Better Late Than Never
by TheOnlyMeThereIs
Summary: Ichigo has always loved Aoyama-kun, but what if he turned out to have been evil the whole time? And what if the perfect boy for her had been above her head the whole time? Is it a case of better late than never for Ichigo and Kisshu? This is an alternative ending for the Tokyo Mew Mew plot that starts just after Aoyama-kun/the Blue Knight becomes Deep Blue...
1. Aoyama Shows His True Colours

***Okay, so here's my first story! I'll try to upload eveyday, but with exams and course work and what not it might not happen...  
*Please review and tell me what you think:-)  
*This goes for the whole story: I do not own Tokyo Mew Mew or any of its characters, now on with the story!**

Deep Blue laughed evilly. "And to think you loved me Ichigo! You actually trusted me!" He whirled around to face the Cyniclons.

"And you three- you really thought I was going to help you? How naïve you all are; the Aoyama you all believed and loved was just a mask. Just a disguise I wore so could find out about Earth while I became strong enough to take it over."

Laughing cruelly at the stunned faces of those surrounding him and the sobs of the pink mew mew in front of him, he raised his sword and brought it down with an almighty swing. At first, nothing happened. Then a minute crack appeared where Deep Blue had struck the ground.  
"It has begun." Pai whispered.

Ichigo, who had been, until now, sobbing on her knees, knelt up and looked into Deep Blue's eyes. She could only see Aoyama there, but something was wrong-he wasn't smiling like the Aoyama she used to know; he was glaring at her, his expression one of pure hatred.

The sight made her heart freeze over. Her ribcage seemed to shrink, squeezing her heart and lungs and making it impossible to breathe.

Kisshu, Pai and Taruto were all staring in disbelief at the Cyniclon they had once worshipped, and the other mew mews were transfixed by the scene, standing still as if they had been paralysed; watching and waiting to see what would happen.

Finally, it was Ichigo who broke the silence.  
"Aoyama-kun, why?"

Deep Blue peered down at her, like one might look at a bug that had just crawled onto their sleeve.  
"I've already told you, Aoyama was never real. It was me. Me the whole time, you were just too stupid to see it. Look-"

He transformed into Aoyama and back again, before impatiently brushing Ichigo aside: "Now be quiet girl, I have things to do."

This transaction seemed to break the hypnotic states of the others, who all looked confusedly around at each other as if for the first time. Suddenly, Pudding summoned up her weapon and directed an attack at Deep Blue, who held out his hand just as it was about to hit him and deflected it.

One after one, the other mews attempted to take Deep Blue down, but each time he just brushed their feeble attacks away with the ease of swatting a fly. Before long, they were all panting and gasping for air, and seemed to have lost all the fight they had in them.

Deep blue smiled. He shut his eyes and began to chant under his breath. The chanting got steadily louder, until he was shouting the eerie words. Then, he raised his sword once more, and stuck it into the ground where the crack he had previously created was.

The ground began to shake violently, knocking the mew mews to the ground and upsetting the balance of the Cyniclons, who had been hovering in the air - causing them to fall to the ground also. Then, Pai and Taruto crawled over to Kisshu, who had fallen a bit away from them, and they all huddled together.

"We need to leave quickly, before the whole Earth is destroyed - teleport now!" Pai shouted at his brothers. Taruto followed his command and disappeared into thin air, but Kisshu shook his head,  
"I won't leave, not without Ichigo. If I'm not there in 5 minutes, go home without me,"

At the uncertain look on Pai's face Kisshu laid a hand on his arm,  
"Trust me, I'll make it." Without another word, Pai nodded and followed Taruto to the ship.

Meanwhile, the mews had also been huddling together.  
"What do we do?" shouted Mint, "We can't just let him win!"

"And where are Shirogane and Akasaka-san?" cried Lettuce, "They could be in trouble! We should find them,"  
Zakuro raised a hand to silence the others, "I don't know what to do, but we cannot give up. We owe it to the people on this Earth to fight to the very end. Even if our powers fail us, we must keep on fighting with whatever we have - I haven't come this far to give up."

The others nodded their agreement.  
"But where is Ichigo?" asked Pudding, "She was right here a minute ago."

They all looked around in alarm, then saw her crawling determinedly away from them… towards Kisshu, who was making his way to her as well.  
"Ichigo! What are you doing? We need you!" Pudding shouted to her, but despite her plea, Ichigo carried on, either not hearing or not caring.

When she reached Kisshu, she reached out her hand to hold his, tears streaming down her face.  
"Kisshu, I'm sorry! All this time I was obsessed with Aoyama-kun, I thought he was the only one for me and I loved him with every bit of my soul - but now I see that the person who I really should have been with was right above my head the whole time. I - I love you Kisshu, and I wish I'd realised my feelings earlier, things could be so different! And-"

But Kisshu had put his finger on her lips to stop her,  
"Don't tell me now Koneko-chan - we have to leave, and quickly,"

"But what about Deep Blue? And my friends? I won't give up!" she sobbed.  
"It's over Ichigo, already most of Tokyo is flooded and it's people are either dead or dying. Deep Blue is too strong, and you mew mews are running out of Mew Aqua, and fast! Come with me now Koneko-chan, if we leave, we can start a new life together, with no fighting. What do you say?"

For a moment Ichigo was still, and then she hung her head and whispered: "Tokyo… flooded. My parents… are… dead." The last word choked her and caused more tears to begin streaming down her already tear-lined face.

All of a sudden, there came a high-pitched scream from one of the mews. The ground had started to split open and crumble, and the crack was growing steadily nearer to Ichigo's friends.  
"Leave Ichigo, we need to go now!" Zakuro shouted, "She made her decision when she left us for that Cyniclon!" With that, they all flew up into the air and disappeared without a glance back at her.

This betrayal seemed to shock Ichigo the most out of all the things that had recently happened. Lip trembling and body shaking, she turned back to Kisshu, who was looking at her with sympathy and love in his eyes, and allowed herself to fall into his outstretched arms.

Together, they flew up into the endless, black sky, Ichigo safe in Kisshu's strong arms, but one thing was praying on the Cyniclon's mind: _Had Pai and Taruto gone without him?_

**Well, there's the start, hopefully the start of a half-way decent story! Review please...**


	2. Deep Blue Defeated

Making a silent prayer to a god he didn't even believe in, Kisshu took his chances and teleported to the ship, Ichigo held tightly in his arms. When he felt himself touching solid ground again, the Cyniclon dared to open his eyes, and breathed out a sigh of relief; he had made it to the ship. He laid Ichigo gently down on the floor and crouched beside her. She had fainted – probably from the sensation of teleporting mixed with the trauma of the past half an hour.

"You made it." Pai said, his voice sounding as if he had been on the verge of crying.  
"Of course I made it!" Kisshu sarcastically replied, "Did you think you'd get rid of me that easily?"  
He grinned.

Pai shook his head at his brother's sarcasm, but seemed relieved none the less. For the first time, Kisshu noticed Taruto; he was huddled in the corner of the large control room, crying silently into his elbow. Curled up as he was, the littlest Cyniclon looked a lot smaller than usual, and Kisshu remembered just how young he really was.

Walking quietly over, Kisshu crouched down beside his little brother and rested a hand on his shoulder. Taruto lifted his head a little.

"What is it Taruto? Why are you crying?" Kisshu asked.

"Pudding…." He choked on his tears as he spoke her name, and had to pause before he could continue, "Pudding is still… down there. We need to stop Deep Blue! I won't let her d-die!"

Kisshu nodded in sympathy and wrapped a protective arm around Taruto, shuffling close to him so that they were both sat together against the wall. Before long, his sobs and sniffles ebbed away and he became still, although he did not sit up.

Patting Taruto comfortingly on the back, Kisshu stood up and walked over to where Pai was standing, looking at the screen in front of him. On it were images of the Earth; they showed Tokyo and large areas of Japan that had collapsed and areas on the coast of China that had become flooded as a result.

"It's ironic, don't you think?" Pai muttered, "That all this time we hated the humans for what they did to the Earth, and now here we are watching as it is destroyed by the Cyniclon _we_ brought here."

"Hai," replied Kisshu, "That is why we're going to save it. It is, after all, our fault."

Pai turned to him, "How do we do that? It's not like we can stop Deep Blue, and the mew mews have lost their powers," he zoomed in on an area just outside of the ruins that were Tokyo. The screen showed four ordinary looking girls all laid together. Upon magnifying the image further, Kisshu saw that they were Pudding, Mint, Lettuce and Zakuro; their costumes had disappeared and they were unconscious.

"Their powers can only work if they have access to Mew Aqua," Pai explained, "As Ichigo is no longer with them, their supply has run out- you see, Mew Ichigo is a channel for the energy, and without her they are just ordinary girls. Not that they could have stopped Deep Blue anyway, he too gets his power from Mew Aqua, but unlike the mews, can channel the energy straight from the source."

"But if the Mew Aqua were to run out?" Kisshu asked.  
"It would take years, but if it did, Deep Blue would eventually die. The problem is there is no way to make the Mew Aqua run out. Not without destroying it anyway."

"You're wrong."  
Pai looked up sharply, unused to being criticized.  
"We can use the detonators on the ship to extract the energy from the Mew Aqua. We can then channel its power to our own planet. Two birds with one stone."

For a moment, Pai looked thoughtful; then he gave a sharp nod and set to work twisting dials and pushing buttons. Before long, Taruto wandered over and joined Kisshu and Pai in watching the screen intently; every now and again sniffling or looking at his older brothers.

"That should do it. Kisshu, set the range to two eight four. Good, now Taruto, push the activate button."  
He did as he was told, and suddenly, there came a gigantic whooshing sound, and for a few seconds all the air left the room. On the screen they could see three large, metal, missile-shaped objects speeding towards the earth at a deafening rate, picking up speed with every passing second.

As they neared the crust, however, they slowed considerably, until, just a few inches from the ground, they stopped and began to glow a cobalt blue colour. After a while, the detonator's glow began to fade, but seemed to be absorbed by the ground, which in turn began to glow. The colour spread until it covered the whole Earth; then became saturated in certain parts of the world.

"The electric current has found the Mew Aqua," Pai told the others, "Now the detonators will extract the energy from it and then return to the ship."

Sure enough, the glow had begun to fade from the furthest points away from the missiles and before long there were no more blue areas. Pai pushed a large button in the centre of the control panel and the detonators started rising towards them. He then zoomed in on his map so they could all see Deep Blue up close. He was stood in the same spot, and was chanting again, his hands moving around the handle of his sword, which was emitting some sort of crackly electricity.

BOOM! All the Cyniclons covered their long, pointy ears, and cringed inwardly at the mind-blowing noise. The detonators had reached the ship and re-attached themselves to its base.

Below, the evil Cyniclon had stopped chanting and was looking at his sword in confusion. He then took a deep breath and tried again… to no result. Deep Blue was getting worked up; he raised his hands to the sky and brought them down with almighty force.

Nothing happened. He shouted to the heavens and waved his sword above his head before smacking the ground with the blade.

Still nothing. By now, Deep Blue had barely the strength to stand. He fell to his knees shaking and panting, like an athlete who had pushed themselves too far. Soon, he was collapsed on the floor, struggling to breathe and unable to move. As he took his last breath, Deep Blue started to fade. The evil Cyniclon became the Blue Knight and then Aoyama-kun, before disappearing altogether.

Kisshu and Pai breathed a sigh of relief, but were shocked when Taruto hugged them both tightly.  
"We did it!" he shouted, "Deep Blue is gone and we can save our people!" the two older Cyniclons wrestled him off, but despite their composure were grinning at their little brother's enthusiasm.

"W-Where am I?"  
Ichigo's voice startled the triumphant brothers and all three jumped, having forgotten she was there. Kisshu rushed over to sit beside her, lifting her body so she was supported in his lap.

"You are safe Ichigo, and that is all that matters." He hugged her close and a tear rolled down his cheek, "And he's gone! Deep Blue is dead Ichigo, the Earth is safe from him now; we are all safe from him now."

Ichigo looked at Kisshu lovingly, her eyes swimming with emotion,  
"Oh Kisshu!" she cried, "I'm so happy, now we can finally be together and no-one will stand in our way!" the pair embraced, but then a shadow fell across Ichigo's face.  
"But Tokyo has been destroyed, and my parents, they are…" her voice trailed off as she began to weep.

Kisshu looked helplessly at Pai, who returned the gesture before turning back to the screen.

Taruto suddenly sprung to life: "But we could restore Tokyo, couldn't we Pai? All the Mew Aqua is in our ship, and we don't need it all. I know it won't bring your parents back Ichigo, but it's something right? And Pudding could have her home back!"

"That's right," agreed Kisshu, "It would only take small amount- just send some back to Earth and it will repair itself with the energy from the Mew Aqua. It doesn't seem right to leave it like it is."  
Pai nodded approvingly and set to work again.

"Thank-you!" Ichigo exclaimed, "Thank-you so, so much!" she wrapped her arms around Kisshu, then kissed him shyly on the cheek, blushing as she did so. Kisshu smirked at her embarrassment.

"I knew all along that you loved me Ichigo, you never could leave me alone could you?"  
This made her blush even more, and she buried her face in her hands while Taruto and Kisshu laughed.

"It is done," Pai informed them, "The Earth has begun to heal itself, but now we must leave. It will take a few weeks to reach our home planet, and I don't want to risk leaving the Mew Aqua for too long. Ichigo, this is your last chance to change your mind. Once we set off, you cannot return."

"I am sure Pai; I won't lose Kisshu, not after it's taken me this long to find him. And there is nothing for me on Earth now, my parents are gone and my friends have shown their true colours. We should leave as soon as possible for your planet."

With that, Pai fired up the engine of the ship, and they began the long journey home. As the vessel picked up speed, Taruto sighed deeply,  
"I won't forget you Pudding-san." He whispered to himself.

They all watched as the Earth got smaller and smaller, before disappearing completely to be replaced with nothing but stars and sky as far as they could see…

**Please review!**


	3. The Ship

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I watched my old home slowly disappearing and felt a strange kind of sadness overwhelm me. I wasn't sad to be leaving Earth; there was nothing left for me there anymore, but there is something depressing about saying goodbye to the only place you've ever known. When it had become just a speck in the endless blackness, however, I turned away from the screen and looked about me. Despite having been in this room for over an hour now, I had barely noticed anything about it._

_The first thing I noticed about it was that the walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were all dark green- the same colour as Kisshu's hair- this made the room very dark. When I had overcome this factor, I realised that I was standing in a very large, very empty dome. The floor was flat, but the rest of the structure was curved. At one side of the room were five metal doors, these too were painted green, and I immediately wanted to know what was behind them._

_Kisshu seemed to read my mind, as suddenly he was stood beside me holding out his hand suggestively to me. I took it and together we walked up to the first door._

_The first room was dark at first, but Kisshu clicked and almost instantly, lights turned on. Now that I could see, I was amazed. Unlike the previous one, this room was light and clean and actually had things in it. In the centre was a square breakfast table with four places and a vase of exotic flowers in the middle. The edge of the room was host to several strange kitchen appliances. There was a clear, glass box that seemed to have some sort of tap inside it; a tall, white cupboard that Ichigo assumed to serve the same purpose as a fridge and a very wide cooking machine that took up an entire wall._

_Seeing that Kisshu was looking at her for approval, Ichigo nodded in awe.  
"Wow," was all she could manage to say._

_Kisshu just smirked and lead the way to the next room._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Well, the kitchen was a success- Ichigo seemed to like it in there. It might not be so bad for her here after all; I had worried she wouldn't like our home ever since we had arrived. Next was Taruto's room. As the youngest on board, it seemed natural for him to have the smallest room. he had sulked at first, but snapped out of it when Pai and I agreed to let him decorate it himself- although the result was little more than a brightly coloured mess all over the walls. Being only nine, Taruto's eye for detail had not yet developed, and he tended to make up for this by throwing a little bit of everything into his 'masterpiece.'_

_To begin with, Ichigo managed to keep a straight face as she looked around the youngest Cyniclon's bedroom, but after only a few seconds she cracked and a wide grin spread across her face.  
"It's… different," she said, "I guess decorating is not his strong point?"_

_Taruto had splashed red and blue paint all over his walls, most of which had dripped down them, creating a stripy splatter pattern around them. On the far wall, he had made colourful handprints which only reached up to a certain point- which was his height at the time._

_Against one side of the room was his bed and against the other, a shelving unit. On it were all his toys that he used to play with; Taruto never played anymore, not since he had joined the mission- I sometimes wondered whether we had robbed him of his childhood._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I had to hold back the urge to laugh at Taruto's room. The decoration was obviously his and made the room very interesting! Kisshu took my hand again and led me through the third door. This room was the smallest yet, and had only an odd-looking toilet, another clear-box-tap thing and a hose sticking out of the wall. This, I presumed, was a kind of shower._

_Next, we ventured into Pai's room. This bedroom was a little bigger than Taruto's, but not nearly as colourful. The walls were a dull grey colour and all that was in the room was a futuristic computer and a bed. I felt quite sad while standing in Pai's room, and wondered what he had been like as a child. Had he always been this, well, boring?_

_Kisshu seemed to be getting nervous as we approached the last door. He hesitated before opening the door, and he was shaking a little. This made me even more curious to know what his room was like, and as he pushed on the heavy metal, I felt almost excited to look inside…_

**Back in the main control room **Taruto and Pai were having a muttered conversation.  
"Where will she sleep?" Taruto asked, "We've no spare bedrooms and she's not having mine!"

Pai sighed, "That's not our main concern right now Taruto, she can sleep on the floor in Kisshu's room until we sort something out; he has, after all, got the biggest room." he sighed again, "I am more worried about what will happen when we arrive home. Our people have hated the humans for centuries, and I don't think they will be overly welcoming towards Ichigo, especially if they find out what she is."

Taruto looked puzzled at this. Then his expression lifted and he pulled on Pai's arm,  
"I know, I know!" he danced around like an excited puppy, "We'll both grab a hold of her human ears and pull as hard as we can, then they'll stretch and she'll look like one of us!"

At first, Pai ignored the suggestion, but as he thought about it, it didn't seem such a bad idea.  
"You might be on to something Taruto." He said, "But we'll not stretch her ears. I do have something that might work however; I hope Ichigo's brought her pendant with her…"

**I know nothing really happens in this chapter, but I wanted to explore the ship a bit. Review please!**


	4. Ichigo's decision

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I stepped into Kisshu's room and thought, at first, that it was pretty normal. The walls were cream and it was the only room on the ship to have a carpet- though where he had got it from I didn't know. He had the biggest room, and consequently the most furniture; there was a bed, a strange open-front wardrobe, a raised cushion that was a bit like a sofa and his own shower, (well, a hose inside a clear box.)_

_It was only after I had properly entered the room that I noticed the odd device next to Kisshu's bed. There was a small metal box standing on the floor, from which several wires protruded. One ran along the edge of the room, and was hooked up to a small screen on a wall next to a picture of a pink cat; the others were attached to the metal of the bed, and there were also three dish-shaped sensors pointing towards the area where Kisshu's head would be when he was asleep._

_"Oh Kisshu! What…" I stopped. Kisshu was staring at me with a very puzzled expression on his face…_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_She didn't notice! After all my anxiety, she didn't even notice the picture of her I had pinned to my wall! If she doesn't see it today, I can take it down and she'll never know about it; what a stroke of luck! I started to grin, but then stopped as I noticed Ichigo was upset. Why was she upset, she hadn't noticed the picture had she? And why would she be upset if she had?  
"Oh Kisshu! What…"  
"You haven't noticed it?" I asked,  
"Of course I have! How could I not?" she replied, shocked._

_"And you're not laughing? I thought you would laugh at me!"  
"Laugh at you?! What's funny about being hooked up to a machine every night like a robot! How could you even think that I would laugh?" Ichigo was nearly in tears and I suddenly knew why._

_"You're upset about my monitor? Why are you crying about it? It's not a big deal,"  
Ichigo looked stunned, "Not a big deal? What is it? And what did you think I would laugh at?"  
"The picture of you on the wall! And it's a way for Pai to monitor my dreams. I have nightmares every night you see…"_

**Pai and Taruto **had moved out of the control room and where now sat in the dull grey room that Pai slept in. The older of the two was typing furiously on his computer, while the younger sat watching impatiently.

"If the pendant works this way then… no. Damn!" Pai muttered angrily, "What if…"  
"I'm bored!" Taruto complained, "We've been at this for hours!"  
"Stop complaining Taruto!" Pai scolded, "And we've only been in this room for half an hour; find a way to entertain yourself." But the young Cyniclon only folded his arms and pouted sulkily.

Another five minutes later, Pai stopped typing, and sat back in his chair.  
"I've finished." He said in relief, "Now to ask Ichigo what she thinks."  
"Finally!" Taruto exclaimed.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu had nightmares. He had nightmares every night and it was so bad that he had to sleep hooked up to a machine! The thought brought a tear to her eye; her strong, brave Kisshu was tormented by his dreams. The worst thing was, he hadn't even been nervous about that; he was nervous because he thought she would laugh at the fact he had a picture of her on his wall! She began to cry._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Ichigo was crying. Crying because I had a dream monitor; was it really that bad? I've had one ever since I was eight and so wouldn't know. Reaching out for her, I held Ichigo in my arms to try to comfort her.  
"Hush Koneko-chan, it's okay," I whispered, "Please don't cry." Her sobs ebbed away like I had healed her of her misery._

_She looked up at me, her eyes shining with the tears she had just shed, and whispered something inaudible. At my look of confusion, she whispered it again, this time louder,  
"Why do you have nightmares Kisshu?"_

_I sighed; I guess I knew this was coming, but I didn't expect it so soon.  
"When I was five, my parents died. It was nothing complicated, just disease. There was a lot of death because of illness back then, we were not as advanced in medicine as we are now; I should count myself lucky that I am alive really." He paused, "Pai and Taruto's parents adopted me less than a year later- Taruto was only two at the time but Pai was twelve, so he remembers it the most. Ever since my parents died, however, I've been having awful nightmares and until I was eight I never talked about them. That was when Pai invented the dream monitor; my adoptive parents could then see what I was dreaming and I've had it ever since- it calms me to know I'm not alone when I dream."_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I felt awful; to think that Kisshu had been through so much, and all this time I had just thought of him as the enemy. Not now though- now he was my other half. Already, I couldn't imagine my world without him and I didn't want to. I could feel the tears welling up again, but I held them back; I didn't want Kisshu to think I was weak. After all, it was me that should be supporting him right now.  
"Kisshu, I-I'm sorry. I had no idea! I love you, and I want to help you get past these nightmares, because, because you shouldn't have to live your whole life with them!"_

_Kisshu was moving slowly towards me. "Thank-you Ichigo, you don't know what that means to me," he murmured. I felt myself moving towards him too, as if drawn to him by a magnet…_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Ichigo was moving slowly towards me, and her eyes were shut. I shut mine too. I moved ever closer, and in a matter of seconds, we were kissing. It was like a dozen fireworks were going off in my stomach…_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_We were kissing! I was kissing Kisshu! He had been my enemy for so long, and here I was kissing him! I felt electric- like I could take on the world; I never wanted this feeling to stop…_

_There came a knock on the door._

Kisshu and Ichigo broke apart and jumped away from each other, embarrassed to be interrupted at such an intimate moment.  
"Ichigo, we have a problem," Pai began, "Don't worry though, we have a solution as well, but it will require you to change, and dramatically."

Ichigo was, at first, worried, but when Kisshu took her hand in his, her concern melted away, and she felt open to anything. Pai sensed this, and knew instantly that she would agree to his plan.

"Come with me." He instructed.

**_Pai's POV: _**_I led Ichigo and my brothers into the control room, where there was the most space for her transformation. If my plan worked- which I hoped it would- Ichigo's pendant could turn her, not into a mutant, but into a Cyniclon. I had already modified it to do this, but had not yet made the change permanent, and I could take away the new chips in a matter of seconds if required._

_"The problem, Ichigo, is that our people have certain… hatred for humans. They despise them for how they have treated the Earth and how polluted they have made our old home. Although we are not entirely sure what their reaction will be, Taruto and I are concerned about introducing you to the rest of the Cyniclons._

_"So, I have taken the liberty of modifying your power pendant so that instead of a mew, you will be transformed into a Cyniclon when you metamorphose. The process is almost exactly the same, but, with your permission, I am going to make the change permanent." _

_I sensed Ichigo's hesitation.  
"So once I have changed," she began, "I cannot change back? I will be a Cyniclon forever?"  
"That is the general idea, yes," I confirmed, "However, it shouldn't be too difficult to reverse the process if I must. I'm not sure how successful it will be however…" I trailed off. If I was honest with myself, I wasn't sure I could reverse the process at all, but Ichigo's transformation was essential to Kisshu's happiness, and Kisshu being happy was not a normal occurrence. I wanted it to last for as long as it could._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_"So, you'll do it?" Pai asked me. I looked at Kisshu; he was unusually quiet.  
"It would make things a lot easier Koneko-chan," he said, "But only if you're sure. I won't be responsible for your unhappiness."  
This made my mind up for me- If Kisshu wanted it, I would do it._

_I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, "Okay," I agreed, "I'll do it."_


	5. The change

Ichigo took her power pendant and nervously waited for further instruction.  
"Metamorphose as you usually would Ichigo, but instead of 'Mew mew Strawberry' say whatever comes into your head." Pai told her. At her hesitation, he added, "It will feel exactly the same, I promise."

She took a steadying breath and kissed the pendant. Then she shouted:  
"Dagger Ichigo, METAMORPHO-SIS!"  
The three Cyniclon's had to shield their eyes from the bright light that followed. Ichigo was spinning, and humming; the melody was a chilling, haunting sound that made the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.

When the music had stopped and the transformation was complete, Ichigo looked very different. She was a little taller and thinner, but not by much. Her facial features had stayed nearly the same, although she had slits for pupils rather than ovals. Her hair had changed dramatically, where before it was short and messy, Ichigo now had long, sleek hair that flowed down her back and swished as she walked; it was hypnotizing to watch. She wore a small pair of brown shorts, a bandeau to match, and shiny brown boots that stopped almost at her knee. Around her lower arm and calves were the tight, wrap-around bands that all Cyniclons wore somewhere on their bodies, although the ones on her legs were barely visible due to the boots she wore, and she had also acquired two floating strips of black ribbon that curled around her and hovered at her sides.

In her hand was a thin blade that mirrored Kisshu's dragon swords apart from being a little longer and not one of a pair. What really made Ichigo stand out as different though, was her ears. Rather than being small and rounded, they were now long and pointed, and stuck out from her head almost horizontally. It was these that she felt for first, and when she realised that they had changed, Ichigo smiled.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_To begin with, I thought the transformation had gone wrong. I felt no different to what I did before I had shouted the familiar, yet strange, words. It was the look on Kisshu's face that convinced me. A mixture between shock and awe, it was a funny sight, and I almost burst out laughing. His eyes travelled up my new body and stopped when they reached my head. The ears._

_I reached up and felt for them; sure enough, there they were. Long, pointed and sticking out- there was no mistaking them! I grinned. Then I realised that in my left hand I carried a weapon. Holding it up before of my eyes, I noticed that it was exactly the same as Kisshu's, although I only had one. The thought excited me; maybe he could teach me how to use it! Looking down at my body, the first thing I saw was the skimpy outfit I wore. At first, I felt a little self-conscious, but I soon remembered that all Cyniclon's had flesh-exposing clothes, and suddenly I felt fine again._

_Next, I saw the bands around my calves and lower arms. If I'm honest, I was happy to see them- I've always admired them, but of course never admitted it. I spun around to get a feel of my new-self and was surprised to find myself being whipped by my own hair! Now, I have always had short hair. Ever since I was a child I've been trying to grow it, and after a few frustrating years, I gave up. So as you can imagine, having hair long enough to whip yourself with? That was new, and quite satisfying!_

_I giggled and walked over to Kisshu, who laughed too. Then I held up my hand and he held up his; we interlocked our fingers and they fit together better than ever. Everything was perfect._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I had always found Ichigo attractive, and recently I had begun to notice just how beautiful she was. Not now though. Not now she was a Cyniclon; no- now she was stunning. To look at her was to feel peace, something I hadn't felt in nearly ten years. When our fingers interlocked, my body felt as though it had been cleansed, and when she smiled, my soul soared as high as the moon and refused to come down._

_Even Pai and Taruto seemed captivated by her, although I was not jealous; I knew they did not feel that way about her. Already I could sense that she had become like a sister to them. I pulled her closer until she was in my arms and shut my eyes. I would have given anything to freeze time in that moment. Everything was perfect._

**_Taruto's POV: _**_Ichigo was beautiful- even I couldn't deny it. When she transformed it was as though an angel had landed in our midst. I couldn't wait to get home and show off to all my friends about how beautiful my new sister was. And she was my sister; I don't know when it happened, but for some reason Pai and I had been feeling really protective over her. Perhaps it was just because she had decided to spend her life with us rather than on Earth; decisions like that were bound to change your mind about someone weren't they? And if Kisshu and Ichigo have children, I will be Uncle Tar! Uncle Tar and Uncle Pai; I laughed to myself at the funny names._

_One thing would be annoying though. When we got home Kisshu would get all the attention, just like normal. For now though, I was just happy to have such a perfect family._

**That night **was the first night on board the ship for Ichigo, and at first it was hard. Just over twenty-four hours ago, she had lain in her own bed, although it would probably be nearly morning on Earth rather than the evening. Pai was doing some research on his computer again, and Taruto was already asleep in his room. That left the whole ship to Kisshu and Ichigo.

"So, we've got the whole place to ourselves. What shall we do?" Kisshu asked cheekily.  
Ichigo nudged him, "Nothing too noisy, we'll disturb your brothers!"  
"No we won't- the walls and doors in this place are sound proof. Pai made them like that so when I shout in my sleep I don't wake them up."

Ichigo felt guilty, although why she did not know.  
"Well I want a shower before anything else. I've battled, lost friends and completely changed on the space of a day and I want a wash!"  
"Fine. I'll show you how to work the water box." Kisshu muttered sulkily.

Half an hour later, Ichigo was feeling fresher and cleaner than she had in years. The water box not only had water coming out of the hose, but out of the walls as well, so as soon as you turned it on, you were being thoroughly cleansed and washed from all sides. She had also found that Cyniclons had a useful trick for drying their hair...

Ichigo had been sat with a towel rubbing at her long red hair, getting nowhere and feeling extremely frustrated when Kisshu walked in and started to laugh at her.  
"Just what is so funny?" Ichigo had demanded.  
"You don't need to dry your hair that way!" Kisshu chortled, "Just click your fingers while thinking about drying your hair and the water will evaporate. It's simple mind over matter- we Cyniclons have been perfecting it over centuries!"

Ichigo frowned angrily, but proceeded to follow his instructions. In a matter of seconds, her hair was dry. She grinned as she ran her elegant fingers through the soft locks.  
"That's not all you will be able to do," Kisshu told her, "Anything you want to do, just think and click."

Ichigo looked around the room. Laid carefully on Kisshu's bed was her sword; she still hadn't got round to asking Kisshu for lessons. Concentrating really hard, Ichigo thought of her weapon flying across the room to her hand and clicked. To her surprise, the sword did exactly as she had imagined it to- and to celebrate, Ichigo did a little jump and punched the air.

Next, she spotted the towel she had dropped to the floor. Again, she thought about what she wanted to happen and clicked. The towel whizzed through the room and hung itself up next to the water box, perfectly clean and dry. Then Ichigo had an idea…

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Hmm; if I can control the objects around me with my mind, maybe I can control the people as well. Closing her eyes, Ichigo thought of Kisshu and imagined him stepping closer to her. She heard his quiet footsteps as he approached. Then, she pictured him taking her hands in his, which he did, and finally, she concentrated on the memory of their earlier kiss. When Ichigo opened her eyes, Kisshu's face was mere inches from hers; his eyes were closed, and his lips slightly parted. She shut her eyes once more and soon enough, their lips found each other, and for the second time that day, they kissed._

**Kisshu and Ichigo **pulled apart and he wrapped his strong arms around her waist and hugged her. Ichigo smiled to herself- she had controlled Kisshu's mind, she had made him kiss her. For the first time since she had last defeated a Chimera animal, Ichigo felt power running through her veins, and it felt good! Suddenly, Kisshu picked her up and carried her over to his bed; Ichigo giggled as he threw her onto the soft mattress.

"I'm tired," he suddenly announced, "Can we go to bed?"  
Although she had not felt it earlier, Ichigo too felt all of a sudden sleepy.  
"Yeah, I feel tired too," she yawned, "But what am I going to sleep on?"

"There's a spare mattress somewhere on the ship, but I'm not sure where it is. Pai was going to get it for you, but I guess he forgot with the transformation and stuff." Kisshu looked guilty.  
"It's okay," Ichigo said, "Is there room for me in your bed? It won't matter for one night, and we'll ask Pai about the mattress tomorrow."

Kisshu nodded and they both climbed into bed; there was easily enough room for both of them, although neither could spread out much. Just as they were both dropping off to sleep, Kisshu whispered, "You know earlier, when we um… when we kissed?" Ichigo grunted to show she had heard, "Well, I felt like- like there was nothing else I wanted to do. I mean, I wanted to kiss you; I'd been wanting to ever since we had to stop earlier…" he hesitated, embarrassed.

"What I'm trying to say is that all I could think about was you. I was thinking about your powers and how impressive they are, but then all of a sudden all of my thoughts vanished and all that was on my mind was kissing you." There was a pause. "It doesn't matter, its nothing."  
He turned back over and fell to sleep. For a while, Ichigo lay awake worrying, but then she too drifted away into a dream.

**The next morning, **Ichigo woke to being shaken by Kisshu. She opened her eyes, and was, at first, confused as to where she was. Then it all came flooding back to her. Deep Blue, her friends, Kisshu and now the transformation. Her immediate reaction was to feel for the ears, and then her hair; it was all the same as she remembered!

"Koneko-chan, you've been asleep for nine hours! Are you ill?" Kisshu asked her urgently.  
"No?" Ichigo replied, "I usually sleep for longer on a weekend, and I had a strange day yesterday- what's wrong with sleeping for nine hours anyway?"  
Kisshu looked relieved, "Oh, it's just that normally Cyniclons sleep for about six, and I thought the transformation might have changed that as well."  
"It's probably just that I'm tired after yesterday, a lot did happen after all." Ichigo said.

Kisshu nodded, "Pai's made para-para for breakfast; I hope you're hungry?"  
Ichigo didn't know what para-para was and had never heard of it, but she sniffed the air and it smelt good, so she followed Kisshu to the kitchen.

Para-para turned out to be a pancake-like parcel filled with delicious fruits and a sweet sauce. They were gorgeous, and before long they had all gone. The four of them sat in contented silence, until Kisshu turned to Pai:  
"I didn't have a nightmare last night."

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Taruto and Pai were shocked, as I knew they would be. I was shocked too; for the first time since my parents died I had a decent night's sleep! I didn't even know what that was anymore and now I never wanted a nightmare again, not now I knew how peaceful dreams could be._

_Immediately Pai left the table and stalked off to his room to do some research and Taruto told us shortly after that he was going to go play for a while. That left Ichigo and I to clear up in the kitchen, not that we minded, nothing was a chore when we were together. When we had washed the plates and put them away, Ichigo faced me and asked me what I had waited to hear for what seemed like hours:_

_"Why do _you_ think you didn't have a nightmare?"  
I sighed; this wasn't going to be easy._

_"Ichigo, last night, I meant what I said. There was a moment where all I could think about was you, and it felt really, really weird- like I wasn't in control of myself anymore. And last night the same thing happened. I woke up feeling like I had been, sort of… out of my own body. I don't know how to explain it but…"_

_"I know what happened." Ichigo confessed, "Yesterday, I thought about you kissing me and…" she blushed, "You did. I thought it was normal at first, but then I realised it couldn't be, if it was you would have controlled the mews with your mind and taken over the Earth in a matter of days! I felt bad so I kept it to myself. I'm sorry Kisshu; I didn't mean to hurt you or anything!"_

_Ichigo looked up at me through her thick lashes, and I could tell she was being truthful. I still wasn't sure how she controlled me in my sleep, but one thing I was sure of was this: Ichigo had a power most can only dream of. A power that, if in the wrong hands can be dangerous. She had the ability to heal me of my nightmares and control my mind: she was a telepathist._

**What do you think? Ichigo is a Cynclon! Review please!**


	6. Haomiya-kiir's Ancestor

**_When two from cultures different meet,  
in heart, and mind, each know defeat;  
take up thy sword of enemies strife,  
And hold, together, thy seed: new life.  
Unto each world and body strange,  
though knowing winds must blow of change;  
take in the power with honour; with pride,  
then with thine love: thy gift divide._**

"Kisshu,I need you in the control room."  
Ichigo and Kisshu broke apart; they had been kissing passionately in the kitchen, but had to stop before they were caught- not that Pai didn't suspect what they were doing, but it would be awkward none the less. Begrudgingly, Kisshu pecked his other half on the cheek and left in search of his older brother.

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I entered the control room a little nervously- it wasn't normal for Pai to sound so worried and I suspected it was to do with Ichigo which made matters worse.  
"I'll get straight to it Kisshu," Pai began, "Taruto and I think Ichigo is a telepathist." He paused and looked uncertainly at me, as though trying to gauge my reaction.  
"The thing is: if she is a telepathist, it would mean that she was the ancestor of Haomiya-kiir which is impossible considering she used to be human."_

_I still said nothing. This was nothing new to me- I had thought of nothing else all morning. Pai continued despite my silence.  
"Our people have waited for The Great Telepathist's ancestor for six-hundred years Kisshu! If they find out she is with us, they will want to know who she is and, more importantly, where she came from." He hesitated again, before continuing in a whisper, "I realise you have probably already thought of this, but what I really wanted you in here for was to ask you- do you really think she can do it? Could she understand the scripture and save our planet?_

_"Our best scholars have devoted their lives to trying to make sense of it and so far none have succeeded. If it is true what you say, and she healed you of your nightmares just by sleeping next to you… she may well be what we have been searching for. Do you think she is?"_

_I was suddenly quite angry. Pai was making too big a deal out of this- we could heal our world without the ancestor now we had the Mew Aqua, he only wanted to be famous for finding our 'saviour.'  
"Yes, I think Ichigo is Haomiya-kiir's ancestor. Yesterday she controlled my mind without me even realising. What you are forgetting is that we don't need her! We have the Mew Aqua now and I doubt Ichigo wants to be centre of attention. Stop trying to use her to get yourself famous Pai!"_

_With that, I stormed angrily out, slamming the door behind me. In the kitchen, Ichigo was looking through the cupboards, occasionally taking something out and smelling it before either putting it back or leaving it on the side._

_"What are you doing?" I asked her.  
"I thought I would cook dinner," she replied, "You all seem so busy and I want to help out around here!" just the sight of her calmed me, and I allowed myself to slip into that fuzzy bliss I always felt around her. Smiling to myself, I walked up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. She purred, but continued her inventory of the cupboards. Once again, just like the day before, I had forgotten everything that had been on my mind before entering the kitchen; all I could think about was Ichigo._

_"Stop it Koneko-chan," I murmured in her ear, "I need to talk to you."  
Ichigo looked up, surprised, "Stop what?"  
I blinked, confused, "Controlling me, I was really angry until I came in here and suddenly I'm calm. Why else would that happen unless you've influenced me?"_

_Silence. Unbearable, awkward silence. Then Ichigo broke the moment.  
"Kisshu, believe me; I didn't mean to. I was just thinking how angry you seemed and how I wish you would calm down and then you did, I would never try to control you ever again!"_

_"It's okay, I believe you Koneko-chan," I sighed, "But this means it is worse than we feared. We need to talk Ichigo, but you may want to sit down…" She followed my advice and I began to fill her in on everything Pai and I knew._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was stunned. Shocked. It wasn't- couldn't be true! I was one-hundred per cent human, well- I always had been until now; how could I be Haomiya-kiir's ancestor? And what was a telepathist? All Cyniclons could control the world around them with their minds- Kisshu himself had told me that!_

_"Why does Pai think I am your people's saviour?" I asked, my voice barely audible.  
"Six-hundred years ago, Haomiya-kiir wrote a prediction. A kind of prophecy, but not quite the same- more like advice. Our scholars have managed to translate the scripture, but no-one can understand it. Her words seem to be a warning, but no-one knows what they mean. On her death-bed she produced the scripture and told the one she gave it to that only her ancestor would know what it means, and also that there would come a time when such a person would be required to save the world."_

_Kisshu broke off and I was numb with shock.  
"So Pai thinks I am her ancestor? Couldn't he trace her family tree from then to now? Six-hundred years is not too long to do something like that is it, and then we would know for sure."_

_Kisshu looked at me pityingly before answering,  
"I guess I missed out the most important detail," he said, "Haomiya-kiir didn't have any children."_

_The room span before me. And I had to grip Kisshu's hand to stay conscious. When I had regained my composure I asked the other question that was praying on my mind:  
"Why does my being a telepathist mean I am definitely your 'saviour'? Surely there are more like me?"  
Kisshu only shook his head.  
"That's just it." he said, "There aren't, and there haven't been since Haomiya-kiir herself…"_

**Interesting twist? I know it's short, but I didn't want to bore you with too much information, review please!**


	7. Taruto gone!

**Lunch time **was a tense affair. Kisshu and Pai wouldn't even look at each other, and Ichigo felt like everyone were watching her. She kept her head down as she ate, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, although this was proving hard. Taruto finished first, but did not go off to play as he had yesterday; instead he sat at the table, waiting as if he expected something to happen.

When the others had finished, Ichigo cleared the table and cleaned the dishes with just a click of her fingers- then she realised what she had done and turned bright red, despite this being the normal power of a Cyniclon rather than something only she could do.

"I want to test your ability Ichigo. If you really are the ancestor of our most famous prophet, we need to know." Pai addressed her more formally than usual, and Ichigo merely nodded in return.  
"I want Kisshu to be there though." She added as an afterthought, looking hopefully at Kisshu who smiled encouragingly.

**_Pai's POV: _**_I won't deny I was worried- I was. Extremely. We could all be exiled if the chief suspected I had made Ichigo artificially. It is illegal amongst our kind to practise any kind of genetic modifying, and so it was of the utmost importance we convinced him that we had found Ichigo on our travels._

_To complicate matters, it seemed likely that she was Haomiya-kiir's heir, and this could mean the chief would refuse us permission to use Mew Aqua to heal our planet. If he thought for a second he had the chance to fulfil the prediction, we wouldn't even get a look in. The ancient scripture was legend among our kind and there was serious fame on the cards for the anyone involved with the heir. With a heavy heart, I began testing Ichigo's strength._

_"Ichigo, please summon that book over there." I instructed her. She did as I told her with the ease of a mature Cyniclon, at this stage it should have taken at least a few minutes for her to build up enough power to move an object as heavy as a book! I tried to remain calm._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I watched as Ichigo summoned, commanded and manipulated objects that Pai told her to. Even after hours of controlling objects that got gradually heavier, she was not tired. Then came the part I had been dreading. Up until now, any Cyniclon advanced enough could have completed what Pai had told Ichigo to do. This was the real test._

_"Ichigo. Please make Kisshu walk over to you." Pai said.  
I felt the blissful fog cloud my mind and I happily let Ichigo control me- after all, I wanted to be near her…_

_A few seconds later I found myself pressed up against Ichigo, my hands on her hips, my eyes closed and my lips dangerously close to hers. Pai coughed to show he was still there and, humiliated, I jumped away and retreated to my earlier stance in the corner of the room._

_"Okay, we know you are a telepathist, but I want to know how far we can push you. It is easy to make an object do something it wants to do; for example: if I wanted a plate to clean itself, it would follow my wishes happily. If however, I wanted a cloth to polish my shoes, it would take more effort, because effectively the cloth would not want that. I want to test if this is the same for people." Pai explained._

_"So will you now make Kisshu lie on the floor and roll around like a dog?"  
I blanched. There was no way I was going to let Ichigo embarrass me like that. No way. So when the familiar fuzzy feeling started to creep around the edges of my mind, I resisted it. For a while, my attempts worked, but then, as usual, my brain fogged over and all I wanted to do was act like a canine. When it cleared I realised what I was doing and stood up, angry and frustrated._

_"Very good." The surprise in Pai's voice cleared my aggression a little, though not by much.  
"Finally, I want you to try to control someone who is not willing to let you practise on them."  
I caught on immediately- Taruto._

**_Taruto's POV: _**_I had just teleported back to the ship and was feeling smug. Very smug. That was the second time I had disappeared without anyone noticing and returned unscathed. I guess I'm not the weak one anymore, not the child who doesn't know what they're doing. It's been a long time since I was a child. Ever since I came on this mission I haven't so much as touched one of my old toys and now I have a new way to entertain myself. I won't be sticking round much longer._

_It was as these thoughts were bouncing around my mind that I began to feel warm inside- like I didn't have to worry anymore. Like there was one thing I could do that would solve all of my troubles, but that thing wasn't clear; not yet anyway. Slowly, like a snail creeping up a post, the action revealed itself to me. Once it had become clear, I knew exactly what to do, and there was no doubt in my mind._

_To get rid of all the bad things in the world I just had to… teleport into the control room._

**_Pai's POV: _**_Taruto appeared before us and as soon as he had, he snapped out of the hypnosis and was very confused.  
"Why am I here?" he asked. No-one spoke, we needed him to think for himself if this was going to work.  
"It was you wasn't it?" he had caught on, "I never wanted to be a part of this and you know I didn't Pai! It's not fair! Kisshu might be happy to play guinea-pig but I'm not! I won't be controlled like a doll…" I ignored my little brother's rant and nodded to Ichigo._

_"And what's more you should have asked before you decided to-" He suddenly shut up. The experiment had worked._

_"You can let him go now Ichigo." I told her._

_As I had predicted, Taruto was not happy about being controlled for a second time, but I did not have time to listen to his pathetic whining.  
"Stop complaining Taruto and go play or something. You're not helping us by being a nuisance."_

_As soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them, but I did not have time to apologize- Taruto had already teleported out, but not before giving me one last hurt look._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I felt bad using Taruto in that way, but we had to know what I was capable of. Pai thought that if we knew the true extent of my powers I could learn to control them, to keep myself from manipulating people without meaning to and maybe even use them to do something good! Kisshu seemed a little uneasy about doing my bidding, but I knew he didn't mind really. Just like Pai, he wanted to be sure I could harness my telepathy and not let it take over me. I wasn't sure what Pai had planned for me next, but whatever it was, I wanted to try it- I quite enjoyed the feeling of taking over someone else's mind; the feeling of power running through my veins was euphoria to my brain and I didn't want this drug-free high to end!_

**Taruto **sat on his bed cursing the three Cyniclons in the room next to him. He would show them! Soon they would be sorry. Soon he would leave and not return. Not that they would notice anyway. He had disappeared twice and both times Kisshu, Pai and Ichigo all though he was in his bedroom playing innocently with his toys. Ha! They didn't need him and they certainly didn't want him. Ever since they had left Earth Taruto felt that he had been replaced by Ichigo.

He didn't deny that he had grown to love her like a sister, he had. But at the same time, he grew tired of her always being the centre of his brothers' attention. The small Cyniclon reached below his bed and pulled out a framed picture of him and Pudding.

The hand that held the small photo began to shake, and Taruto's lip quivered. Then a fat, round tear escaped his eye and rolled slowly down his pale cheek before splashing onto his arm. He would do it now. Even if she wasn't ready for him to move in. There was no way he could stay here any longer. No way.

**_Taruto's POV: _**_I quickly packed my bag- there wasn't much I wanted to take with me anyway, and I certainly wasn't going to take any keepsakes. I was finished in a matter of seconds, pausing only to take one last look at my bedroom before teleporting out of the ship altogether._

_As I landed, a wave of nausea overwhelmed me and I almost fainted. It was getting harder and harder to make the journey the further away we travelled. I looked around me. Grass, trees, bushes, fountain. I was in the park in Tokyo. This place held so many memories for me, most of them involving Chimera animals and mew mews._

_I never wanted to remember those times again, but being on Earth reminded me of what things used to be like. Pai, Kisshu and I- the unstoppable Cyniclons…_

_I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was only one thing I was here to do and I was going to do it right now. Not daring to teleport, I walked through the city centre; it was strange that I knew my way around Tokyo after less than a year of knowing the place._

_My mind wandered freely as my legs took me to the place I wanted most to be: Pudding's house._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was getting tired. Three hours I had been at this. Three whole hours of mind control! The room was spinning before me; I felt light-headed and knew what was going to happen.  
"Bucket." Was all I could manage._

_Catching on instantly, Kisshu teleported out and back again in a millisecond, bringing with him a plastic bucket which he held in front of me._

_I threw up and straight away felt much better for it. Pai looked a little disgusted, but Kisshu merely took the bucket away and returned not long after with a glass of water. I thanked him, grateful for his support._

_"I think we should stop for now." Pai said, stating the obvious as usual. Kisshu and I nodded our agreement, although a little sarcastically.  
"I have enough data to be getting on with, but I am fairly certain that you are indeed Haomiya-kiir's ancestor Ichigo. What we need to work out now is what it will mean for us."_

_We all departed the control room; Pai into his room, and Kisshu and I into his. It was only late afternoon, not even time for tea yet, but I was exhausted! Kisshu seemed to read my mind and together we curled up on his bed._

_He found a comb in his drawers and began brushing my long hair. The feeling soothed me, and I began to purr appreciatively. He smirked, but continued. My eyelids started drooping and I smiled contentedly. If I could have frozen time, I would have. In no time at all, I had slipped into a peaceful, worry-free sleep and nothing could bother me there._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I opened my eyes- unaware that I had even gone to sleep the night before; I did not remember even feeling tired. As I looked across at the beautiful Cyniclon beside me, I realised just how lucky I was to have found her. I guess everything does happen for a reason- if my parents had not died, I would not have been taken in my Pai's parents, and would probably not have been sent on the mission. Then I would have never met Ichigo and my life would have been worse for it._

_I gently shook the sleeping beauty beside me and slowly she drifted into consciousness.  
"Morning sleepy," I teased; she giggled and rolled over to face me. I leant down and kissed her forehead then clambered out of bed and headed to the bathroom._

_When I returned, Ichigo was already dressed and ready. I quickly slung some clothes on and followed her to the kitchen._

**Pai was already eating breakfast **when Ichigo and Kisshu walked in. He smiled warmly at the two of them then continued reading his book and eating his food. They exchanged a glance of surprise; Pai never usually showed any emotion, let alone any signs of affection! Still a little surprised, Ichigo set about making breakfast for the two of them. She settled for an easy option- toast.

After a while of happy munching, Pai looked up from the book in which he had been engrossed for the last ten minutes.  
"Ichigo, I must apologize for the way I treated you last night. I pushed you too hard and it wasn't fair," he paused, "If it's okay with you both, I'd like to start training you today, not only in your mind powers, but the normal Cyniclon ones as well. You need some ability if our chief is to believe that you are truly one of us."

"Of course, I had a lot of sleep since last night, so I feel ready to start today. And you mustn't blame yourself for my illness last night Pai; I should have told you I was getting tired. Anyway, I wanted to see how far could go myself!" Ichigo said.

Kisshu grinned at the two of them; it was good to see them getting on so well, and strange to think mere days ago the pair had hated each other! Despite the pleasant atmosphere in the room, there seemed to be something not quite right, but Kisshu did not know what it was. Then suddenly he had the answer.

"Has anyone seen Taruto this morning?" he asked.  
Both shook their heads, and seemed to realise for the first time that he wasn't present.  
"He's probably just sulking in his room," said Pai, "I was pretty harsh to him last night, but I didn't want to interrupt one of his moods to apologize. I should go and speak to him now." With that, the oldest Cyniclon left the room to go and find Taruto.

Ichigo clicked and the dishes cleaned and tidied themselves. She smiled smugly.  
"At this rate you'll be the one training us!" Kisshu remarked proudly. Ichigo laughed,  
"I doubt that very much, you're all very powerful!"

Kisshu smirked and pulled Ichigo close to him. Then he cupped her face and kissed her lovingly.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I melted under Kisshu's sweet kiss. His arms held me securely as his lips continued their loving embrace and I knew in that instant what true love really was. Not that false emotion I had felt for Aoyama. His name tainted the moment and I wished I had never thought of it._

_"Ichigo! Kisshu! Quickly!" Pai shouted urgently; would we ever get a moment's peace in which to enjoy each other's company? It seemed not. We pulled begrudgingly apart and ran together from the room.  
"What now Pai?" Kisshu asked rather irritably._

_"It's Taruto!" Pai exclaimed, "He's gone!"_

_I gasped; how could he have gone? And more importantly, how could we not have noticed?!_

**_Taruto's POV: _**_Pudding had welcomed me back with open arms, but warned me to keep a low profile,  
"The others aren't happy with you for taking Ichigo," she informed me._

_I scoffed; of course it would be our fault, what they aren't admitting to themselves is that they are the ones who abandoned Ichigo! Never mind, I thought, it wouldn't do to argue with Pudding, not after we had been apart for so long! Already I could tell she had matured. She no longer bounced around and shouted 24/7, albeit she was still the same energetic Pudding, but just not as extreme as she used to be. I guess only having four mew mews was harder work?_

_I greeted Pudding's little brothers and sister like old friends; they too had grown since I had last seen them. That's odd, I thought, I've only been away a few days, that's not long enough for people to change this much is it?_

_Nevertheless, I pushed the thought to the back of my mind and smiled when Pudding flung herself into my arms. The young ones giggled at the show of affection, but I didn't care, not anymore; being away from Pudding for even a few days had taught me that you have to appreciate the time you've got._

_I wondered whether the others had noticed my disappearance yet. Probably not; they were most likely too busy playing around with Ichigo's new power to even realise…_

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	8. Into the Soup

**Pai had already **set up a tracking device so they could locate Taruto, but the only flaw was, he had to teleport for it to find him in the first place.  
"He will teleport at some point," Pai reassured them, "There's no reason why he shouldn't."  
But even Pai was beginning to worry; what if it was his words that had driven Taruto away?

**Ichigo and Kisshu **were trying to remember the last time they had seen Taruto; they had both seen him teleport back to his room after the argument, but neither had seen him afterwards.  
"That doesn't help us unfortunately," Pai told them, "If that is the case, then there is an eighteen hour gap in which he could have gone missing. That makes a big difference to where he might be!"

Everyone was trying to stay calm, but panic was slowly poking its head above the serene surface of their minds. They soon found that Taruto's bedroom door was locked- they had already been in, that was how Pai found out that he was gone, but it was a clue.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was concerned about Taruto, he had left us in such a strop, and none of us had thought anything of it. Thinking about it, we had been ignoring him a little what with my telepathy taking up of all our time. Why had he locked his room though? That must mean he had deliberately left._

_I wonder- if we get Taruto back quickly- whether Pai would still be able to train me? It's selfish- I know, but I really do want to learn how to teleport and everything, then I would be a real Cyniclon!_

_It was as I was thinking about my powers that the answer floated to the top of my mind: Taruto had left us because he had felt neglected! It all made sense! He had been angry that we had used him twice without his permission, and then Pai had told him to go away. He must have teleported back to his room, locked it and then disappeared …_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Guilt is a terrible thing. It had begun to creep up on me when Ichigo had suggested it was our fault that Taruto was gone, and by now I had been wholly engulfed by a black cloud of it. Part of me wanted to argue with her; shout no! Tell her it couldn't be our fault! But the other, more rational half of my brain was sat calmly in the corner commenting snidely on my every thought, laughing at my pathetic excuses and speaking the truth of the matter; it _was_ our fault._

**Pai and Kisshu **teleported into Taruto's room, and Ichigo waited outside the door until they had unlocked it. Pai was suddenly beside her:  
"He's taken the key with him. So I'm afraid you can't come in. Is there any way you could cook tea tonight?" he asked hopefully.

Ichigo sighed, but agreed. After all, it was no good just standing outside the door waiting! With that, Pai teleported back into Taruto's room to look for more clues as to where he had gone.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I absentmindedly stirred the soup I had prepared for our tea, although my mind was on other things- namely Taruto. I stared into the maroon liquid in the pan and thought about where Taruto could be. It killed me to think that I had only been on his good side for a few days and already I had upset him enough that he had run away!_

_For a strange reason, the soup before me began to bubble and boil; splashes of molten liquid slopping over the side of the pan. I stirred the mixture frantically, trying my hardest to calm it down, but to no avail! Then, as soon as it had started, the soup ceased its manic frothing and returned to the dormant state it had been in before. Now, however, there was a blurred image projected in the midst of the creamy broth. I leaned in closer to see what it was, my nose almost in the soup, and when I realised that it was Taruto, I panicked, and ended up falling in the pan!_

_I shrieked in shock, expecting to find myself on the floor covered in boiling liquid, but instead I was in a different place entirely, completely unharmed and unsoiled. To my surprise, I knew where I was; I was in Tokyo, about five paces away from Pudding's front door! I bravely strode up the drive and rapped on the door, somehow knowing exactly why the soup portal had brought me here._

_The door had barely even opened when I was bowled over by an ecstatic Pudding.  
"Onesama!" She yelled, "Why are you not with the Cyniclons no na da?"  
I sighed, "It's a long story Pudding, but it's something to do with the little visitor you have."_

_Pudding's blush gave her away. I pushed past the doorway and found myself face to face with Taruto, looking rather sheepish. I smiled awkwardly at him, and was pleased when he returned the smile._

_"Hey Taruto," I said, immediately cringing at the corny greeting, "Umm, don't panic, I'm not going to contact your brothers yet- I just want to know why you left?"_

**_Taruto's POV: _**_Oddly, I was relieved to see Ichigo, although I had no idea how she had got here; she surely couldn't teleport yet. Pudding showed Ichigo through to the front room, staring at her ears, and made us both a cup of tea. I gulped mine down, but Ichigo sat sipping hers.  
"What happened to your ears Ichigo-san no na da?" Pudding asked, pulling on Ichigo's ears rather violently; just watching her made mine hurt! Ichigo ignored the pain however, and addressed me:_

_"I'll get straight to it Taruto- why did you leave? I know what we did was unacceptable, but you have to believe me that we are all so sorry, and you have no idea how guilty Kisshu and Pai felt when they found you gone!"_

_Well, it seemed that they actually cared about me!  
"I didn't mean to cause panic Ichigo, but I don't want to lose Pudding and I was planning on leaving anyway, I just got so mad, and I know I acted rashly, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time." I explained._

_She had to understand; after all, did I not just do for Pudding exactly what she had done for Kisshu?  
"I know why you did it Taruto, but shouldn't you explain all this to your brothers? They were really worried about you, you know! And what do you mean you were planning to leave anyway? How did you know you could make the journey, it's a long way to the ship from Earth," she said._

_I guess I knew I would have to explain myself sooner or later.  
"I've made the journey twice before this, and I just felt so left out! You guys were all fussing about this ancestor thing, and you didn't even notice I'd gone! I'm sorry Ichigo, but you'll just have to go back without me, I won't leave here!"_

**_Pudding's POV: _**_I was shocked. Not only was Ichigo a Cyniclon, but in the three months Taru-taru had been gone, he had been treated badly? He didn't mention this when he visited a month ago! He would always be welcome here, but I didn't want him leaving on bad terms with his family, that wouldn't do, no na da!_

_"Umm that might be a problem Taruto," Ichigo admitted, "I can't teleport yet, I got here through a sort of soup portal? And Kisshu and Pai don't even know I'm here. I'm going to need your help getting home!"_

_What? She was going already?!  
"You're leaving Onesama?" I asked, "I haven't seen you in three months, and the other mews miss you, no na da!"_

_Ichigo bristled and suddenly became cold._

_"Don't talk to me about those betraying animals. I don't blame you Pudding; you had to follow them or you wouldn't be alive, but I won't see the others. Wait-" She back-peddled, "THREE MONTHS?! I've been away for two days!"_

_I was confused, "Two days Ichigo-san? We haven't seen you since you left with the Cyniclons three months ago!"_

_Now even Taruto was staring at me, a strange look on his face. The two Cyniclons exchanged glances before returning their eyes to me, their expressions a mixture of shock and bewilderment…_

**Have the Cyniclons been away for three months? You'll have to wait to find out- I'm not updating until I get at least three reviews for this chapter:-) Soo review please!**


	9. Connected

**Silence filled the air. **A thick, smothering silence. Taruto had agreed to help Ichigo go home, but he had insisted he was going to leave again afterwards. She had been sure Pai and Kisshu would understand, but now she realised they did not, at all.

"How could you be so idiotic?" Pai started up the lecture again. "Not only could you have been injured, you could have ended up in another dimension altogether with no means of contacting us OR getting back!"

Taruto sighed. His older brother had been ranting on for nearly an hour now, and had broken off momentarily only to restart again. Pai would shout now, but afterwards Taruto knew he would be forgiven. Ichigo had not been angry; if anything she felt bad for making him return to his two angry brothers and was now on his side of the argument.

Taruto could deal with _their _reactions. It was Kisshu who was harder to cope with. Not one word had been exchanged between the two of them since he had returned. Not one. His adopted brother merely sat in the corner of the room staring at him, his eyes and face full of disappointment. At the time, Taruto had believed his actions were justified, but he could see now just how stupid he had been.

Despite his apologetic manner however, the lecture and the silent treatment continued long into the night…

**It was almost morning when **Pai and Taruto finally forgave each other. Kisshu came out if his mood and also made up with his brother, although he told him he was still disappointed.

"Let's all go to bed now," Pai yawned, "We can talk about what we're going to do in the morning."

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I lay next to Kisshu in his bed and thought about what Pudding had said. According to her, I had been away for three months, but I only made it to be two days! One of us was wrong, and I was sure it couldn't be me._

_"What's on your mind kitten?" Kisshu murmured in my ear.  
"Just something Pudding said," I told him, "She seems to think we've been away for three months, but I'm sure it's only been two days! Am I going mad? Because it's not like Pudding at all to fool someone like that for no reason!"_

_"You're not going mad Ichigo, the space-time thingy gets mixed up when you travel from planet to planet. Think of it like changing time zones on Earth. It's more complicated than that though, you'll have to ask Pai if you want more information; I never did understand things like that!"_

_I felt relieved. It was just some freaky time zone thing after all- I wasn't going mad! The best bit of my trip to Earth was that I had taken back to the ship with me some more clothes and also some essentials such as a toothbrush and a night-shirt. As I lay in Kisshu's bed in my clean night-wear, (I had been wearing one of Kisshu's old tops for the past two nights,) I realised just how lucky I had been._

_I mean, what are the chances of soup teleporting you safely to another planet? I grinned to myself, it sounded like the punch-line to a really cheesy joke! I giggled to myself, then caught a sight of Kisshu's expression and giggled some more. He looked at me like I was insane, and this tipped me over the edge. My laughing fit made him chuckle too, and soon we were both in a pile of laughter, the laughter of the one setting the other off again!_

_When we finally calmed down, my abdomen and jaw muscles hurt and I had to hold onto Kisshu to ease my stitches! I looked into his warm, amber eyes and could almost see to his soul. Looking into his eyes was like looking into my own, and even though we had only just begun our journey together, I knew his arms was the place I wanted to spend the rest of my life…_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I looked into Ichigo's eyes and saw myself in them. Although hers were a comforting brown colour, compared to my own bright yellow irises, the expression in them seemed to reflect my own: undying love. The heat in the room suddenly spiked up, and there was a static electricity passing between our bodies._

_This time, when we kissed, it was like touching heaven with my fingertips. A million doves encircled us and the beats of their wings were the beats of our hearts: timed to match each other perfectly._

_Neither one of us pulled away; we did not need air, we had each other; and that was better than all the air in the world. My hands were in her hair and hers were wrapped around my neck. The more we kissed, the more we wanted to never stop and so our embrace continued for much longer than I had believed possible._

_Then something strange occurred. I could hear all of Ichigo's thoughts, and by the way her eyes opened, I knew she could hear all of mine as well…_

_Kisshu__** and Ichigo's POV:  
**__What is this?  
__**I don't know but don't stop, it's nothing sinister, I can feel it.  
**__I wasn't planning on stopping; I wouldn't end this moment for anything.  
__**I can hear you, why can I hear you?  
**__I don't know, but I'm not sure if it's a bad thing yet…_

**_It could be part of my power, it is to do with our minds after all?  
_**_Possibly, but right now I don't care! I love you Koneko-chan! And I will love you for forever and long after that too!  
__**Oh Kisshu! I love you too! Infinity couldn't even begin to cover it!**_

**_…_**

**Another chapter done... Review please!**


	10. Training Begins

**The next morning** Kisshu and Ichiho awoke at the same time to find them-selves still wrapped in each other's arms. Both instantly remembered the mind connection, but found they could not hear each other anymore. It was both relieving and saddening at the same time. On one hand, it would have become annoying to have to listen to the other's thoughts all the time, but on the other, it meant they could not be constantly connected to each other.

**After breakfast, **all the residents of the ship held a meeting to discuss what they should do about Taruto. In the end it was decided that they should wait until arriving at the home planet to decide whether Taruto could go and live with Pudding permanently. However, Pai suggested they could talk through a communication device of his, which allowed the user to see and hear the recipient for up to hours at a time.

Taruto begrudgingly agreed, but only because he wanted to see his parents before disappearing off again. It seemed like everything had gone back to normal on board the ship, and Ichigo was glad. Today they would start her training, and she looked forward to this with a mixture of excitement and anticipation.

**_Taruto's POV: _**_I've been really stupid. Teleporting off like that was a bad idea; at least now everyone knows how I feel about Pudding, and I guess I would have missed mom and dad if I'd have stayed on Earth. This way is much better, my parents will let me go back to Earth if I tell them there's a girl involved…_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was glad we'd sorted out the problem with Taruto, it meant I could at last begin my training. Pai explained to me what we were going to try to achieve today: I had already mastered mind over matter, so we were going to run through some basic sword-handling rules._

_The lessons were to be held in the control room, so I quickly got changed into my Cyniclon clothes, (I had worn my night-shirt to breakfast,) and hurried to meet everyone there._

**_Pai's POV: _**_I was a little sceptical of how Ichigo would take to sword fighting. It was nothing like she'd ever attempted before in all her time as a mew, and I wasn't sure yet if she would have the patience to keep practising the moves. Today Kisshu was acting as the main teacher- being the most advanced with swords on the ship- so I got to relax and watch; it was a nice change!_

_As the morning progressed, I saw that Ichigo was having no trouble learning how to use her weapon, and I was surprised. Before, I had assumed that all her powers came from her mind, but now I wasn't so sure- it was as if she had been born to become a Cyniclon!_

**_Taruto's POV: _**_I had just finished my video-call to Pudding and had nothing else to do. Absent-mindedly, I wandered into the control room to see how Ichigo was doing and saw, to my surprise, that she was engaged in a ferocious battle with Kisshu. Even Pai couldn't defend Kisshu's attacks that long and he had learnt to use dragon swords long before our adoptive brother had!_

_After another five minutes of fast motion fighting even professionals would be proud of, Kisshu finally beat Ichigo, twirling so he was behind her and placing his dragon swords in a cross in front of her neck._

_Ichigo had lost, but to keep the fight going for so long on her first day of learning to fight was impressive, especially as it didn't look as though Kisshu had held back on her! I caught Pai's eye and noticed that he too was surprised by Ichigo's ability- at least it wasn't just me going insane!_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Holy Haomiya! I had only taught Koneko-chan a couple of basic moves, and then I thought I would test her reflexes with a simple attack. I had expected her just to dodge away, but instead she had defended the blow and immediately returned the attack._

_She wasn't copying my moves though; as the battle progressed, I noticed her using attacks she had probably never seen before in her life, let alone ones that I had taught her! In the end, I had to use an attack I had never used before to beat her, and though she had defended more complex ones like a master, when I used this one it was like she had never even picked up a sword before. She simply didn't know what to do._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was panting a little by the time we had finished. From the looks on the Cyniclons faces, I had either just started doing the can-can, or they were impressed; even Taruto had stayed to watch our battle! Then Pai applauded; I blushed- embarrassed at being the centre of attention. I looked awkwardly at Kisshu; he smiled but the smile did not reach his eyes; eyes which told a different story. Had I done something wrong?_

**They all broke** up for lunch which Pai made in a flash, simply clicking his fingers to make the food in the cupboard organise itself into something edible. When his brothers and Ichigo had all eaten, he informed them that they would not continue training this afternoon due to an urgent need to research something. Taruto, having nothing to do, went with him to help with the research which, as usual, left Kisshu and Ichigo to clear up.

"One of these days, we'll be the first to leave the kitchen, and Pai and Taruto can clean up!" Ichigo exclaimed, "I could get tired of always washing these plates!"  
Kisshu merely 'hmmed' his agreement and carried on drying plates.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I didn't know what had gotten into Kisshu, he was his usual chirpy self while we were training, but when we had finished he changed. What had I done? _

_"Kisshu, what's up? You were fine earlier, but now you seem so... so depressed!" I said, exasperated.  
"It's nothing Ichigo, I'm just worried about you." He said, "Not for any particular reason, its just- I may as well say it- you shouldn't have been that good at sword fighting, not yet."_

_Now I saw the reason behind his bad mood. He didn't want me to beat him at being the best swords-man on the ship!  
"So you've been moody with me because you want to be the best?" I asked him sarcastically._

_He looked shocked,  
"No! I enjoyed having a challenge for once! What I mean is that it usually takes years of practise to master the art. You've been a Cyniclon for what, three days? And already you fight like a warrior! Something doesn't seem right here Koneko-chan, and I don't want you hurt if it isn't!"_

_I was touched.  
"Kisshu, I didn't realise you cared about me so much! But I know what you're saying; today, when we were battling, I didn't have to think about what to do. No, that's not it- it's more like the thoughts were already there, like I had been able to use a sword for years!" I admitted._

_I saw realisation dawn on Kisshu's face. He kissed me swiftly then teleported out without another word._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I teleported into Pai's room, then had second thoughts and teleported out again, although I don't think he noticed me, thankfully! I landed in the control room and had to sit down; teleporting twice in a row that quickly had side effects. I knew what had happened to Ichigo and it scared and exhilarated me at the same time!_

_When our minds had merged the other night, some of my memories must have transferred to Ichigo's brain. We hadn't been connected for long, so it made sense that she wouldn't notice. And my training would be the memory I had thought of the most, therefore the easiest one to transfer- it fitted; the amount of times I had practised those attacks was scary!_

_It also explains why Ichigo didn't know the cross attack, I didn't use it much, and so it probably didn't transfer with all the others! I had to be sure though before I told Pai. I would try it again tonight, try connecting our minds, and see what Ichigo knew tomorrow._

**That evening, after tea, **Taruto begged the other Cyniclons to play a game with him. Kisshu had been feeling impatient all afternoon, but Ichigo and Pai saw no problem with it, so they played…

**One hour, and six rounds **of 'Where in the World?' (A Cyniclon game that involved guessing where in the universe different planets were- Ichigo was hopeless, but had teamed up with Pai to make it equal,) later, everyone decided to call it a night.

Back in their room Kisshu and Ichigo were getting ready for bed.  
"What was wrong with you this evening?" Ichigo asked him, "You were very snappy!"

By now, Kisshu's mood swing had disappeared,  
"I was just impatient to get you alone Koneko-chan…" he kinkily said.  
Ichigo giggled, and replied in the same tone:  
"As I have you Kisshu, but there's no need to get all hormonal about it!"

Kisshu merely smirked and clicked to clean his clothes and tidy them away. Ichigo did the same and the two grinned at each other.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu looks so hot in just his night-wear! I feel stupid standing next to him sometimes, just knowing how beautiful he is! It's enough to make me feel self-conscious!_

Ichigo admired her topless boyfriend, noticing the way his muscles rippled in the dim light and eyeing his toned chest and stomach with admiration.

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_How did I get so lucky? Ichigo is really hot in a night-shirt! There was something about her in an oversized shirt that was attractive; it covered just enough that it wasn't awkward to be in the same room as her, but wasn't so baggy that she looked like a clown._

Kisshu was stood at the other side of the room to Ichigo, admiring her admiring him. They caught each other's eye and laughed. Then the heat in the room seemed to kick up, just like the night before.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Without me even realising he had moved, Kisshu was suddenly behind me, breathing on my neck, his hands on my waist. With the ease of flicking a feather, he picked me up and carried me over to the bed, manoeuvring us so that I was laid underneath him. I squealed and tried to twist away from his grip, but he smirked at me and held on._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I had to laugh at the irony of the situation; a week ago, if the two of us had been in this position, it would most likely have been because we were fighting. Now, we both wanted to be like this, and it had become a game to us! I had to try to forget what I was attempting to do tonight; if I succeeded in connecting our minds, Ichigo would be able to read my thoughts, and the experiment would fail. I concentrated on the giggling Cyniclon beneath me._

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Ichigo could not stop laughing. This was soon put a stop to, however, when Kisshu leant down and kissed her full on the mouth. Then she stopped trying to move away, and began to pull him closer instead.

Kisshu complied and allowed Ichigo's hands into his hair, moving his away from their restraining position on her wrists now he was sure that she was not going to squirm away. By now, Kisshu had forgotten all about testing their connection, and could only think about Ichigo.

**_Kisshu's POV:_****_ Her hair; her lips; her body beneath mine. The static between us was enough to power the ships engine and in that moment I was unstoppable, invincible…_**

_Ichigo's POV:__ His lips; his chest; his body on top of mine. The room was hot enough to melt an iceberg, or was that just how it felt? My heart was beating double time, and my breathing had certainly picked up. I felt like I was floating on a cloud, trailing my hand in the cool, blue sky…_

**_Kisshu _**and _Ichigo's POV:__  
It's happened again, but I don't care... His body; his lips…  
__**I don't care, I really couldn't give a crap... Her hair; her mouth…  
**__I want to be with him forever, never leave me Kisshu!  
__**If only we could stay like this forever, my world would be perfect.  
**__How can one person feel this much love?  
__**How **_**can ****_one person feel this much love? I don't believe it possible.  
_**_It's not. It is possible only because we feel it together.  
__**This one love; together.  
**__Together.  
__**Always…**_

**...**

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	11. Hauntings of the Past

**Pai looked into his true love's eyes; they were a deep, moss-green that always reminded him of trees and forests. This was the last time they would see each other until he returned, which might not be for over a year! She was crying, and her tears flowed freely over her pale, slender cheeks before splashing to the floor, unwanted and wasted.**

**"I don't want you wasting your life waiting for me to return." Pai told her, "If I make it back at all, I will be gone for at least ten months; I won't have you sat here wasting precious time not enjoying yourself."**

**Her lip trembled as more tears erupted from her shining eyes. Pai took a deep breath to steady him and get rid of the lump that was rising in his throat.**

**"Which is why, I… I think it would be best if we weren't together. You might meet someone new while I am gone, and I hate to think of you being tied down to a Cyniclon who might not even come back! I love you with all my heart and…" Pai had to pause to prevent himself from crying, "And I always will; that's why I'm doing this. It's what's best for both of us."**

**The beautiful Cyniclon opened her mouth to protest, but was not given the chance; Pai leant down and kissed her, then turned away and walked slowly to the ship. When he turned around to have one last look, he saw the only girl he would ever love sat on the floor, her face in her hands, distraught over the loss of her boyfriend.**

**The strength to keep putting one foot in front of the other when all you really want to do is turn around and run back again was one Pai didn't even know he had until that day.**

**_I wonder where she is now. Did she meet someone else? Is she happy?  
_****These questions had haunted Pai since the day he left, and could only be answered by one person: Zimbyla.**

Ichigo had been appearing and disappearing all over the ship all morning. Ever since she had woken up and discovered she knew how to teleport that was all she had done. Kisshu had explained to her why he thought she had these abilities, and she had agreed with him. All that was left to do now was tell Pai.

**_Pai's POV: _**_"You think what?"  
What Kisshu and Ichigo were saying was ludicrous! Yeah, it was strange that she could sword fight so well, but there were dozens of other explanations for that! And okay, I was freaked out by the fact that she could suddenly teleport too, but again, there were other reasons._

_To think that she only had these abilities because she had somehow taken them from Kisshu's mind? That was ridiculous…_

Or was it?_ My inner-self asked snidely. I had to admit, the theory made sense, but how the hell could they have managed to connect their minds?! Kisshu seemed to think it had something to do with them being… intimate. He and Ichigo had blushed when he said it._

_If I was to believe them, I had to run some tests, maybe do some research. There was nothing in our history about mind connections for me to compare this to, and so I had to start from scratch. This was going to take a few days…_

**_Taruto's POV: _**_Great, another gift Ichigo has. Another thing to make her superior to the rest of us. She and Kisshu acted like the sun shone out of each other's… never mind. The point was, here was Pai and I who hadn't seen our sweethearts in too long- obviously Pai had been away from his longer- and we had to put up with Romeo and Juliet every day! It wasn't fair._

The day passed in a blur. Ichigo spent most of it chasing Kisshu around the ship, trying to work out where he would appear next and Pai spent it leafing through ancient texts and every now and then running tests on Ichigo and Kisshu. Taruto kept mostly out of it; Pudding had the day off, so he called her and, due to the time difference between them, spent the whole day talking with her.

After what seemed like no time at all, it was the evening, and they were eating tea, (which Kisshu had cooked for them.)

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Pai informed us at tea that he had looked into the mind connection thing, and had found some other similar cases where two Cyniclons had read each other's thoughts, but none quite like ours; sharing memories and learning to do something through mind connection had never happened before._

_"I'm sorry for doubting you both," he began stiffly, "I should have had more faith in your judgement, now that I know it is possible, we can set about working with it. I wonder…"_

_Kisshu and I rolled our eyes. Typical Pai; discovering something new, and immediately wanting to know everything about it! That night, it was we who made our excuses first, leaving a disgruntled Pai and a stroppy Taruto to wash up. We teleported instantly to our room, but I misjudged the distance, and ended up landing in Kisshu's arms. He lost his balance and toppled on to the bed with me still held tight to his chest; both of us laughing at the ridiculous noises we had made upon falling._

_"We need a new one of these." Kisshu said when our laughter had died down, looking down at his bed, "It's way too small for the two of us!"_

_I laughed, "We've been sleeping on it for the past four nights and you haven't complained until now? I personally like the bed; it's comfy, and I like sleeping in your arms." I added, feeling the blush creep into my cheeks._

_"In that case…" Kisshu smirked at me, "We should put it to better use…"_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I loved winding Ichigo up! It was so funny watching her squirm beneath me as I tickled her relentlessly! Her laughter made me laugh, and as I was laughing she attempted to tackle me. I let go in shock, only to grasp hold of her arms again, and pretty soon we were just a messy tangle of limbs!_

_She stilled, enjoying the moment, and I took the opportunity to beat her. Using my strength to pull my arm out from under her, I flipped myself so I was sat on top of her, restraining her wrists above her head so she could not move. Her surprised expression set me off laughing again, and she used my tactic against me._

_Next thing I knew, I was the one under her with my wrists above my head!  
"You fight good Koneko-chan," I said sarcastically, accompanying the words with one of my trademark smirks._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I sighed. As much as I wanted to continue play-fighting with Kisshu, I also wanted a shower and so I had to leave my position of superiority. Kisshu's smirk disappeared and was replaced by disappointment when he saw that I'd had enough.  
"I'm only going in the shower," I reassured him, "We can wrestle all you want when I get out."_

_He raised an eyebrow and I realised how bad an innuendo that was. My cheeks flushed a little, but I laughed anyway, not caring because it was only Kisshu!_

**_I teleported _**_back into my room after my refreshing shower and found that the lights were dimmer, and a pleasant scent hung in the air. Glancing around, I saw that Kisshu had lit scented candles and was stood by the bed looking expectantly at me._

_"Thanks Kisshu, but what are these for?" I asked._

_He grinned, embarrassed.  
"I found them in a cupboard while you were in the shower. The packet said that they were meant to relax you, so I thought I would light a few for you since you've had such a busy day…"_

_My heart melted at the gesture,  
"Awww Kisshu! How sweet!"  
With no dignity at all, I threw myself at him in a bear hug that knocked him onto the bed, and for the second time that day, I was on top of him giggling! He patted my back awkwardly, but I could tell he was happy that I liked his surprise._

_He sat up, and, gently cupping my cheek, kissed me…_

**Meanwhile, Pai sat alone in his room **as he did every night, and looked at his only picture of Zimbyla. Tears were rolling down his cheeks as he thought of the beautiful Cyniclon he had left behind. Watching Kisshu and Ichigo together only made him miss her even more; the way she walked, the way she smelt, and the way she understood him.

Zimbyla used to sit for hours listening to him rant about the dreadful way in which the humans had treat the Earth; not caring how boring it was, as long as they were together. He remembered the way he had felt when she first told him she loved him and the look in her eyes when he had asked her if she would get with him.

It had been so long since they had been together, so long since they had touched; had kissed. Pai could hardly even recall the sound of her voice; only that it was like the sound of a stream trickling over smooth pebbles, so calming, so soothing. _Does she even remember me?_

**Sorry PXL and PXZ fans; I personally don't think he suits Lettuce or Zakuro- but Zimbyla..? What do you think? Review please!**


	12. The Gift Divided

**_It's been so long. Too long. I sat and rocked my new-born baby to sleep whilst thinking about her father. You've never met him, I psychically told my baby, but when he returns, he will love you like he's known you all your life. He will return; he must. I believe in our love, and I believe that our god, Deep Blue, will bring him back to me, to us. We will pray, Peryzai, we will pray for your daddy's return and one day, our prayers will come true! We just have to believe…_**

**One week after Ichigo's transformation, **Pai woke the others by shouting at the top of his voice,  
"I have great news!" He cried, "We are only a week away from home!"

Kisshu bounded out of bed and opened his bedroom door. On the other side was Pai, grinning like a child at Christmas!  
"What brought this about?" Kisshu asked, "Last I checked we were two, if not three weeks away!"

Pai nodded excitedly, "That's what I thought, but it seems there has been a shift in the time zone again, we have been travelling into a faster zone for days. We must have taken a different route on the way _to_ Earth, because we never encountered this before. I should have realised Earth had the same space-time…"  
Kisshu zoned out there, he had never been interested in the ways of the universe and never would be; not to the extremes Pai was anyway!

Ignoring Pai, he teleported back into his room to tell Ichigo, his whole face beaming as he relayed the news:  
"…So it turns out Cynitopia has the same time zone Earth does. Pai thinks we've taken a different route and that's why it's so much shorter this time!"

Ichigo grinned too,  
"And that's great news for Taruto," She pointed out, "If it hadn't been like that, Pudding would have grown up so much faster than him- that would have been hard for them!"

Kisshu nodded, only just realising this.  
"On the down side, it means that Pai, Taruto and I _have _been away for over a year, I had hoped it would have only been a few weeks or so, but I guess not…" He suddenly seemed down-hearted.

"That's okay though Kisshu, if that had happened, you would have matured too quickly anyway. People would be expecting you to have stayed the same, but you would have been through a years-worth of change." Ichigo said, and Kisshu's smile returned.

Breakfast time was the most pleasant it had been so far, everyone was full of smiles and laughter, and even Ichigo was looking forward to reaching Cynitopia, she couldn't wait to see what the Cyniclon's home planet was like, although she knew it would be pretty bad until they had healed it!

They all spent the morning talking and reminiscing, and it wasn't until nearly lunch time that the gathering broke up. Ichigo offered to make dinner, and Kisshu, of course, stayed to help…

**_Pai's POV: _**_One week Zimbyla, one week. I'm on my way! Please, please, _please_ still love me; I will do anything!_

**_Taruto's POV: _**_Only one week to go. I'm looking forward to seeing mom and dad again, but even more exciting… the time is almost here for me to move in with Pudding! I should go and talk to her, tell her the news!_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_In one week, I'll be introducing Ichigo to Aunt Lavinya and Uncle Pakasama, one week and we'll heal our planet… one week to work out how to break the news about Deep Blue's betrayal to our people._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_What if they know? If they find out I used to be human, we'll all be exiled! I must continue training so I can prove that I am a Cyniclon! I must practise my story so I know it off by heart. I must remember… oh, I love you mum, dad. I miss you with every day that passes, and I will never stop thinking of you! I hope you are proud of me, even though I have changed, I hope you are both looking down on me smiling…_

_"Ichigo I need you in here a second," Pai interrupted my melancholy moment, and, sighing, I went to find out what he wanted; although presumably he had 'done some research.'_

_My hunch turned out to be correct:  
"I have been thinking Ichigo, if you have taken on board some of Kisshu's memories and abilities, why hasn't he taken on yours? I've done some research into it, but- nothing. Your power is one if a kind, so I have nothing to compare it to!" Pai seemed disgruntled, "Also, before we reach Cynitopia, I'd like you to take a look at something."  
He led me to the far side of the control room and, once there, took out of a safe a dusty manuscript. The brown, dilapidated book looked as if it had seen better days, and Pai had to blow the dust off its pages to even be able to read the words!_

_He turned the pages carefully, warily lifting the ancient parchment, and slowly placing each one down on the next. Eventually, he stopped. The page he had paused on was no different to the others; no fancier or better decorated than the rest. In fact the only difference was that this page seemed weaker; you could see through the translucent paper and the corners of the parchment had begun to wear away after too much handling._

_I stared hopelessly down at the foreign writing in the ancient book, wondering if I was supposed to be able able read this, but not recognising a single letter in the whole text! Pai seemed disappointed at first, and he looked at me bitterly, but then his eyes lit up and his frown melted, and I swear I could hear the whirring of cogs in his brain. He teleported out, then returned a second later with a very startled Kisshu by his side._

_"Read it!" Pai instructed him excitedly.  
"Don't be stupid, you've shown me this thousands of times! I can't read ancient Cy-"  
"Just shut up and read!" Pai interrupted._

_To my amazement, and also his, Kisshu began to read the passage out loud, pronouncing the words expressively, as if he had known how to read the language all his life…_

**_"When two from cultures different meet,  
in heart, and mind, each know defeat;  
take up thy sword of enemies strife,  
And hold, together, thy seed: new life.  
Unto each world and body strange,  
though knowing winds must blow of change;  
take in the power with honour; with pride,  
then with thine love: thy gift, divide…"_**

_A stunned silence filled the room, suffocating all of us in it. Taruto must have slipped unnoticed into the room during Kisshu's rendition of the verse, for he was now staring at Kisshu in shock like the rest of us. The olive-haired-Cyncilon's cheeks reddened under our gazes and he looked down at the floor nervously._

_Pai was the first to snap out of the trance we had all fallen into, and he walked solemnly over to Kisshu and laid a hand on his shoulder.  
"It is as I thought." He whispered cryptically, "It is not only your memories that can be transferred."_

_My head buzzed. If Pai meant what I thought he did, then Kisshu and I could share more than we had first thought; or could we? I was confused and clueless about what was happening, and I wasn't the only one. Taruto and Kisshu were also staring blankly at Pai, who stood in front of us with an infuriating smile on his face._

_"It seems you have shared something more than a memory with Kisshu," he began, "No, not shared. I think a more accurate word is needed here; divided…"_

**Chapter twelve: done! Hope you enjoyed it and I didn't bore you too much! Either way, review!**


	13. They arrive

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_We arrived at Cynitopia with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Not only was this the place where Kisshu and the others had grown up, but this was the place where I would hopefully spend the rest of my life! Pai once again briefed me on my story before we exited the ship, and, once he was confident I knew it off by heart, he landed the vessel and led us out of the door._

**_Kisshu's POV:_**_ Home… we were home! The place hadn't changed in over a year, but I certainly had! Since I had last set foot on this dusty, desolate planet, I had made enemies, made friends, fallen in love, had my heart-broken, been betrayed and had my dreams come true! And yet, the wind that was blowing in my face that very moment was the same that blew in my face as I left._

Kisshu and Ichigo were the last to leave the ship, and they left with each other's hand in their own. There was no-one waiting for them as they emerged, only flat, brown waste-land and a howling, bitter wind. Pai signalled for the ship to lock itself, and immediately set off in the the lead at the front of the procession. After about half an hour of walking into the dust filled gale, the winds died down and the landscape became slightly more fertile- though not by much.

Eventually, the view in front of them was clear, and the Cyniclons could see where they were.  
"Ah," Pai murmured knowingly, "We are at the edge of our community, in the outskirts you might say." He added to Ichigo, who was looking around her in a state of disbelief. They continued through the rows of shabby houses; their inhabitants going about their daily businesses. The further they proceeded into Cynitopia however, the more strange looks they got.

"It's because we are more known towards the centre," Kisshu explained, "We lived in a house in the very middle, so the Cyniclons that live in the outskirts won't know us very well."

It came to a point when the people of Cynitopia began to emerge from their houses and point and whisper, Ichigo began to feel uncomfortable listening to their hushed conversations:

"Is it really them? After over a year!"  
"It must be, I wonder if it is true that…"  
"Who's that one? I've never seen her before, and I'm sure there were only three when they left!"  
"It could be… you know…"  
"No! The Ikisatashi brothers would never dabble in illegal science, I know their parents you know!"

"But that Kisshu… he was adopted right?"  
"Never mind him, what about Pai? He's the smart one!"  
"Ah, but have you heard? About Pai that is?"  
"I know! Quite the scandal!"

Pai stiffened at that last one. He glanced over his shoulder at the ones who had spoken and they silenced immediately. After that, either no-one spoke, or they spoke very quietly, for there seemed to be no more whispers following them down the streets.

Suddenly, an older Cyniclon rushed out of her house to greet them.  
"Is it really you?! After all this time! Oh how I've missed you, and you'll never believe what has happened!" She flung her arms around all three boys, before pausing and giving Ichigo an odd look.

"But who is this?"  
"Kisshu took hold of Ichigo's hand again and brought her forward to meet the woman.  
"Aunty Ishanya, this is Ichigo Momomiya, we picked her up along the way; Ichigo, this is Ishanya Ikisatashi, she is my adoptive aunty on my father's side."

Both Cyniclons smiled, but when Ichigo went to shake Ishanya by the hand, she found herself pulled into a bear hug instead! Taruto and Pai laughed, however Kisshu just seemed a little embarrassed by his auntie's behaviour.

"Well, you'd better hurry dears, your parents will have no doubt heard of your arrival home by now, and if I know Lavinya and Pakasama, they'll be so impatient to see you they'll have paced the house fifty times already. Pai, may I have a word?"

Pai nodded and stayed behind as the others hurried on- glancing behind them in concern as they went. A few minutes later, Pai was suddenly beside them again, and was tucking a folded slip of paper into his pocket. He smiled to reassure them, but Kisshu noticed that the emotion did not reach his eyes, which were clouded over with misery and worry.

Before Ichigo could even wonder where they were headed, the group was stood outside a huge, grand house with flamboyant doors and multiple windows. The building was not large when you considered some of the gigantic homes on Earth, but compared to some of the huts that they had passed on the way here, it was practically Buckingham Palace!

"Well, here we are…" Kisshu nervously muttered.

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_My stomach had joined the gymnastics squad. I just knew it. Inside me at that very minute it was practising its backflips and round-offs like it was about to compete at the Olympics! My brain was telling me to be happy- I was home! But somewhere at the back of my mind, a little voice kept reminding me snidely of Ichigo, and the what would happen to us if we were found out. As Pai knocked on the solid wooden door, I had the sudden urge to take Ichigo and run. Just run. Go back to the ship; anything! Just escape the unfortunate ending that was bound to await us on the other side of that door! And it was almost open…_

**_I'm sorry- it's short and ends with a cliffhanger... Review?_**


	14. Home at last!

"Sit down, sit down!" Lavinya chirped, seemingly unconcerned about Ichigo's presence. Kisshu was still a little anxious, but now he knew that his parents were not going to turn her out, he relaxed and allowed his mother to fuss over him.

"So who is this then?" Pakasama asked the question they had all been waiting to hear.  
"Mum, Dad," Kisshu began, "This is Ichigo, we found her along the way and-"  
"Kisshu, not Mum and Dad. They can know." Pai interrupted solemnly.

Kisshu looked a little startled, but soon regained his composure and started again.  
"Okay, fine. But this story is a lot longer you know…"

When Kisshu had relived the events of the past year, including some parts that even Ichigo did not know, the room was silent. Lavinya and Pakasama were stunned, glancing between Kisshu and Ichigo likquite comically!

"When's tea?" Taruto broke the uncomfortable silence, "I'm starving!"  
The older Cyniclons began to laugh, and Lavinya left the room to see what they had in the cupboards.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Phew. They hadn't reacted in the way I thought they would have done. When Pai had told Kisshu to tell the truth, my heart had almost stopped beating! I Had been sure they would either throw us out, or at least tell Pai to send me back! In the end, they hadn't said anything about it; although they probably would have lots of questions once they had got their heads around it._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_They had put on a brave face in front of Ichigo, but I knew the questions would come later for me and Pai. Taruto not so much, they would assume the youngest of the three of us wouldn't know as much as we did, and I guess they would be right! I wonder what Ichigo had been shocked about when we went into the hall though, I should ask her later…_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Tea-time was the happiest I had ever seen Pai and Taruto! They actually seemed to glow with joy! I wonder when Taruto will ask his parents about Pudding, he will have to ask soon, I don't think he'll want to wait very long to move back to Earth. After the meal, Pakasama took Pai to see something he had been working on. It's strange, I'm sure Kisshu said his father was something like a business man, but if he had been 'working on' something, he couldn't be right? Unless it was just a Cyniclon thing. Kisshu and I excused ourselves pretty early, saying we were tired after the long journey; although this was a transparent excuse and everyone at the table could see it!_

_Lavinya showed us to our room, she said she had been told by Pai that we liked to sleep together; I think I may have blushed at that. Just like a real mother to me, Lavinya kissed me on the cheek and told me goodnight, the gesture shocked me, but I kissed her back anyway._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I was surprised to see how well Ichigo got on with my mother, I wasn't sure whether they would, but it seems I needn't have worried! I must get round to asking her about earlier, it had been bugging me for some reason. Also, I had to remember to ask Pai what Dad had asked him earlier, I knew that was why they had left the table: Dad was the owner of the housing estate that built all of the houses in Cynitopia, not some wierd inventor! I was sure he would have asked me about Ichigo, seeing as how it was me that was with her! Never mind, he had probably assumed correctly that it would be Pai, not me, who had changed her. Pakasama was obviously right, but I couldn't help feeling a little stung that he had not thought me clever enough to do it._

That night, Kisshu and Ichigo both had a shower at the same time. The room they were in had two en suites, and therefore two water boxes. When they'd had their showers, they both found, on the bed, clean night-wear. There was a fresh pair of boxer shorts for Kisshu and a lacy night-shirt for Ichigo. She blushed as she picked it up: the material was almost see through; the hem only just reached the top of her thighs, and it had a very low-cut neckline!

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Oh mum! She had gone out of her way to make Ichigo feel at home, and had summoned a night-shirt she had thought appropriate for Ichigo, but unfortunately had chosen something a little too raunchy. Not that I minded- personally I thought this one was a big improvement on the plain, shapeless one Ichigo had stolen from Earth, but then I would like this one better: there was a lot more flesh on show, and that was to say the least…_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I slipped into the tight outfit Lavinya had given me, and blushed at the amount of skin I was showing. It seemed ridiculous really: my normal clothes were a lot skimpier, but for some reason, that seemed different- it was custom for Cyniclons to wear clothes that didn't cover much; they had to, or they would be too hot living in the hot climate of Cynitopia! But for some reason, wearing this lacy top for bed when I would be sleeping so close to Kisshu was embarassing._

_I caught a glance of myself in the mirror that covered a whole wall of our room, and once more I felt my cheeks redden; the shirt covered even less than I had anticipated! But Kisshu was suddenly beside me, his arm around my waist, and I felt immediately better. He pulled me closer, and my breathing quickened; I could feel his chest against my back and his other arm snaking its way around my hips. In one sudden movement, he spun me around so that I was no longer looking at the two of us in the mirror, but looking into his eyes instead._

_I wrapped my slender arms around his neck and he smirked in _that_ way; the way that only Kisshu can. He looked so beautiful standing there in front of me, leaning his head down closer to me, that I just had to smile. As his face drew nearer to mine, his arms tightened their hold on me, and our bodies pressed up against each other. I closed my eyes and waited for his kiss. It didn't come. Impatiently, I leant up towards him and joined us together, pulling him closer with one hand in his hair. He lifted me off my feet and carried me to the bed, laying me gently down on the cloud-like mattress…_

**_Kiichigo's POV: _**_Being here right now… It's heaven. I could kiss you forever, I want to! Never stop, never let go, never leave… I want you to be mine forever…  
What happened earlier… I'm worried… I want to show you…_

**_The door was almost open…  
Behind it, opening the door for us, was a tall, black-haired Cyniclon man in a black outfit that consisted of a pair of long black trousers much like Pai's, a black veil-top that covered his chest, but was transparent, and shiny black boots. He bowed when he saw the four of us stood at the door, and though he must have been surprised to see us there, he kept a solemn face and stood back to allow us entry. They had someone employed to open the door? A bit like the butler Mint had._**

**_Behind him were two rows of Cyniclons, mostly female, creating a path for us to walk through between rows. The women wore black, calf-length skirts and black crop-tops. Over the top of their skirts, they wore a white apron-like garment and under them Ichigo could see that they were wearing boots like hers, although theirs were black. There were only two men in the assembly, and they wore outfits much like the first man's, however theirs were not as smart. They were servants. People who worked for the Ikisatashis. Kisshu's family was rich; well-off; posh. Like Mint's._**

**_Kisshu stepped into the house first, followed by Pai and Taruto, and finally me. As we walked through the rows of servants, they all bowed in turn and welcomed us home. Like the door opener, they hid their surprise well, and did not move until we had passed through the magnificent hall and entered the next room where Lavinya and Pakasama were. The Ikisatashis were respected by these workers, and treated like royalty. Like Mint._**

**_Kisshu's father wore an outfit identical to Pai's, except his was brown. He had navy blue hair and grey eyes, and a kind face that wrinkled when he smiled. His mother wore an outfit quite like mine, except she had a longer skirt, rather than the short-shorts that I had. She too had a caring face, but her hair was very dark brown, and her eyes were almost black! She ran to the three boys and hugged them, then she turned to me and politely kissed me on either cheek; although it was obvious she was confused…_**

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I resurfaced from my vision and pulled away from Ichigo, rolling off her and sitting at the edge of the bed. She looked disappointed, and sighed, but sat up on the bed next to me anyway.  
"That was weird huh?" She said awkwardly._

_I sighed and looked at her.  
"You think we're like Mint?" I asked a little hurt.  
"No!" She cried, "You're not stuck up, or snobby, nor do you look down on those who aren't as well-off as you are. It's just, well; I didn't know your family was so rich, you've never mentioned it before!"_

_"No, I guess not. But you never asked! Anyway, it doesn't matter right? I'm no different just because I have money."  
Ichigo smiled, "I know, I'll always love you, no matter what you are."_

_With that, we started kissing again, but his time our minds did not connect, though I knew why. It was because I was not thinking solely about Ichigo; there were two other things on my mind. One: When our minds had connected this time, it hadn't been like before; we had been one mind, one voice, not two that could hear each other like before. Two: How and why had I seen her memory? It had been like I was Ichigo and it scared me. Three: Should I, and how was I, going to explain this to Pai? If I do, will he keep us apart?_

**Should he tell Pai? I won't update until someone tells me if he should, (review please.)**


	15. Peryzai Ikisatashi

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_"You saw her memory? That's great. Keep it up." Pai shut the door in my face.  
He shut it… in my face. Just like that. I mean- seriously? He didn't care that I had just practically had a vision? Well, sure I was glad he wasn't going to do something drastic, like keep us apart, or run some crazy tests on us; but I had been sure he would have actually cared! He seemed preoccupied about something, could it be to do with what Aunty Ishanya had told him yesterday? It must be. He had been really excited about coming home until then! Should I ask him? No. If I knew Pai- which I did- he wouldn't want to share his feelings with anyone. It was probably best just to leave him to it._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu teleported into our room, his expression a mixture of concern and relief.  
"He doesn't care." He said, frowning. I shook my head, not getting him at all.  
"He shut the door in my face. He didn't give a crap that I saw your memory. There's something on his mind, I know it!"_

_"Could it be what your Aunt told him yesterday?" I asked; it wasn't normal for Pai to not want to know everything about something; usually he would have started running tests on us as soon as he had heard the news, "Have you spoken to him? Asked him what the matter is?"_

_He shook his head, I sighed.  
"Kisshu, go talk to him! He's your brother; you know he'd help you if you were upset about something!" I cried, exasperated at Kisshu's awkwardness around people._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I teleported back to Pai's room: Ichigo was right- I should have been there for Pai. I knocked on his door, unsure about what I was going to say when it came to it, but I needn't have worried: there was no answer. I knocked again, this time louder. No Pai. Strange. I pushed gently on the door, and to my surprise, it opened. Pai usually kept his bedroom locked, maybe he had forgotten?_

_Upon entering, I realised why he hadn't been answering; he wasn't there! Dizzy from teleporting too much, I decided to walk back to my room to tell Ichigo about his absense. Our room was on the top floor, and Pai's was on the second, so I had to walk up all four flights of stairs to get there! It had been so long since I had been here, I had almost forgotten just how beautiful the décor was inside my old house. Compared to my first house, the one I can only just remember, it was like heaven. I used to live in one of the huts on the very edge of the city: and I mean the very edge. You could probably have seen the plains out of the window, though I couldn't remember that…_

**_Zimbyla's POV: _**_I sat rocking my baby. She was three months old now, and looked just like her father. She had my eyes though; everyone told me that! Oh, she was so beautiful: Peryzai, named after both her parents. My Peryzai! Well... our Peryzai, she belonged to her father too. If the rumours flying round were true, then he was back, alive, after a year away!_

_There was a knock at the door. I shuffled Peryzai in my arms so that she was balanced in my elbow, and made my way to the door…_

**_Pai's POV: _**_The shabby door swung slowly open. It was barely hanging onto the hinges that attached it to the crumbling frame. My heart was in my mouth, and its beat was pounding through my brain like an elephant! The door seemed to take millennia to reveal the person behind it, but when it finally did, I saw, stood before me, the one girl I had thought about constantly for over a year._

**_Zimbyla's POV: _**_It was him. Pai. My love. My daughter's father. The rumours were true, and now we could be a happy family- we could be the thing I had been robbed of a year ago. A year ago when it had got out that I was with child, when the whole of Cynitopia found out that I had become pregnant when I was not married._

_My family had disowned me and I had been outcast to the very edge of the city and forced to live in this hut with not much more than a bed and an oven. Now that Pai was back, however, I could get married and be accepted back into society once more. Now that Pai was back…_

**_Pai's POV: _**_There she was: my love. Standing in the doorway of a broken-down old shack with a baby in her arms, smiling at me like I had never even left. So it was true then, what Ishanya had told me: I was a father. The address she had given me on that slip of paper had been correct, and Zimbyla had been cast out of her own family because of me. Because of my stupidity. If I had only found a way to keep in touch, I could have stuck up for her, could have protected her, but now it was done. All I could do was look to the future, a future I hoped would be full of happiness and love…_

Pai followed Zimbyla into her house. There was only one room, and in it was a small, mattress-less bed, a make-shift cot made of what looked like an old chair, a large tub Pai guessed was being used as a bath, and an ancient looking oven that still worked using fire and wood. To say that her living conditions were so bad, Zimbyla seemed to be positive and optimistic, and she gently placed her daughter in the cot before flinging herself into Pai's arms. The pair began to cry tears of happiness and regret, pouring a years worth of emotion into each other's shoulders!

When they had both emptied their eyes of tears, they pulled apart and stood awkwardly holding hands.  
"When did you find out?" Pai asked quietly.  
"Three months after you left," Zimbyla replied, "I told my mother first, but she betrayed me and went to father. He blew a fuse and disowned me. Ever since that day, I've been living here; the house has been declared unfit to live in, so no-one owns it. Everyone in Cynitopia knows I live here, but no-one disturbs me, I guess they know I have no-where else to go."

For the first time, Zimbyla looked disheartened, but she soon perked up again.  
"That will all change now of course!"

Pai's face seemed to glow too,  
"Of course!" Then a frown shadowed the moment, "But surely you resent what happened? I mean, you were used to a life of luxury until now, it can't have been easy, and raising a baby! It's… great, but… you must regret it sometimes?"  
She sighed, "I do. Sometimes I sit in my bed and cry, but I don't cry because I have nothing but a baby, I cry because things could have been so different! If only we could have done this together, it would have been perfect!"

Her eyes shone with fresh tears, but they were not unhappy ones. As she looked at Pai's face, her whole being lit up, and joy radiated from her very skin at having her love back again.  
"You must want to see her?" She asked timidly.

Pai only nodded and took a step towards the cot. Zimbyla reached down and lifted her daughter from the cot, handing her carefully over to Pai, who took Peryzai nervously. At first, he held her awkwardly, barely touching her, but before long he was rocking and soothing the baby in his arms as if he had been a father for years!

"Peryzai…" he murmured, then he smiled, "A mix between Pai and Zimbyla, I love it!"

**_Pai's POV: _**_I gazed down lovingly at my daughter, she was so beautiful! I could see that she had her mother's eyes, they were that stunning deep green that could captivate you for hours and yet left you breathless after one glance! Her hair was a dark purple-brown, and her skin was pale and flawless like all Cyniclons. Her tiny ears were pointed and long, but were not yet stuck out; they were flat to her small head, and seemed so delicate- like paper! My eyes were swimming with emotion, and I could barely see my beautiful baby through the blur of my tears. I felt Zimbyla come to stand beside me, and saw that she too was crying! I leant down and kissed her cheek as the first of my tears rolled away from my eye and suddnly realised what a bright future awaited me._

_There was just one thing spoiling the moment; one errand thought that kept jumping up and ruining my perfection: she must be wondering; I know I would be. She must want to know why I finished her when I left, she was so broken-hearted back then, and she must want to know why I walked away!_

_"You must want to know why I did what I did last year?" I asked her, fearing the answer.  
"No, I know why you did it," She whispered, her head hung, "I would have done the same for you, and if I had known about the baby before you had left, things would have been different, but I didn't. You didn't want me tied down, it was reasonable. But you must know that I have never stopped loving you, and not a day went by that I didn't think of you!"_

_Pai smiled, "And I you, my love. So there is only one thing left to do…"_

_This was it. I had wanted to do this for a year, and I was going to do it today. Zimbyla had been an outcast on my behalf for too long, and I was going to put an end to that._

**_Lavinya's POV: _**_Pai was gone. I knew where of course; he had gone to see Zimbyla and his new daughter! The whole of Cynitopia had been talking about it for months- it was quite a scandal! I didn't blame either of them, these things happened from time to time, but with the girl's father being a strict rule-follower, the poor dear had been cast out of her luxurious home and made to find her own way in the world._

_If society had allowed it, I would've welcomed her into my own home, but it would only have made matters worse for Zimbyla. Now that Pai was home, she would have a future, and if I knew my son, he would devote his life to her and the baby; Peryzai I think they called her. If they married, she would be welcomed back into her family and into Cynitopia with open arms- it was just the way our twisted society worked. Now to tell Kisshu, Ichigo and Taruto what I knew: I couldn't have them all asking Pai awkward questions, it wouldn't help matters!_

**_Taruto's POV:_**_ Pai was a daddy! My Pai had a baby girl called Peryzai and I was Uncle Tar! It was so exciting! Mum thinks they will get married now, but they will probably live here for a while, until they have enough money to settle down anyway. I wonder what the baby looks like; I hope it doesn't look like Pai, poor thing!_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I had no idea Pai had a girlfriend! Never mind that he had a child! Wow, it doesn't seem like Pai at all, this is certainly a different side of him. I can't wait to meet Zimbyla; I bet she's really clever to be with Pai, most people can't keep up with him! I hope I get on with her, although if she's anything like Lavinya we should get on really well!_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I thought there was something up with Pai, and now I'm glad I didn't intervene. He would probably have told me to mind my own business. I had forgotten about Pai's girlfriend, he used to talk about her a lot at home, but I hadn't heard him talk about her since we left Cynitopia, although Taruto's mentioned her to me a few times. It might be fun to have a baby in the house; she'll be spoilt rotten!_

**_Pakasama's POV: _**_My son's a dad. If I've raised him like I hope I have, he'll propose sometime soon and the pair of them will find a house together. I admit it's a little unorthodox, but I'm happy for him; I could always tell he loved Zimbyla, and her parents might be useful contacts; they own the energy company that powers all the houses in the city! That could be a real asset to me…_

**_Zimbyla's POV: _**_I had been dreaming of one moment for months: the moment when Pai would take my right hand in his left and produce a pebble. The pebble represented a strong marriage and a steady relationship, something I had wanted with this man for two years now! Then he would place the pebble in my left hand and ask me to marry him, I would of course say yes, and we would be happy for the rest of our lives! Pai was now looking into my eyes with that solemn expression that he always used to wear on his face. I had gone through so much without seeing that face, and now that I had it back, I wanted it to be mine forever! If only that one moment would come…_

**Chapter 15 finished! Review!**


	16. Time-skip

**Pai sat in the large, cushioned armchair and admired his daughter playing with her dolls. How bright she was; at only five years old she could read and write, and she already had some mind control! Children didn't usually develop that until they were at least eight! Zimbyla bustled into the room with the plates of food they were having for tea and hurriedly put them on the long wooden table. Her husband stood up and halted her in her path.  
"Don't panic, it's only the three of us for tea tonight, why are you stressing?" He soothed her.**

**"It was meant to be your special night!" Zimbyla cried, "You've secured the deal with the suppliers, and I cooked a fancy meal to celebrate but it's all going wrong!"**

**Pai placed a slender finger on her full, red lips.  
"Shh, it doesn't matter. What matters is that we are here, all together, a family!"  
She nodded.  
"I'll help you in the kitchen." He decided.**

**A few minutes later they were all sat around one end of the table smiling, laughing and eating without a care in the world.**

**"Elbows off the table, my dear," Pai said sternly to his daughter,  
"But why daddy?" Peryzai replied, "There aren't any posh men here tonight!"**

**He smiled warmly at her, "I know love, but if you want to grow up to take over your daddy's business, you have to act properly at all times. If you start practising now, you'll always remember how to make a good impression."**

**The young girl looked down at her elbows which were resting either side of her plate. She slid them quickly off the table, and then looked up at her father for approval. He smiled and nodded, and the girl beamed back.**

**"Here's to your daddy, the most successful business-man in the world!" Zimbyla raised her glass, and signalled for her daughter to do the same. Pai chuckled and raised his too; the three clinked their glasses and laughed, happy in their perfect moment of harmony.**

**"I've invited your two brothers around," she continued, "Taruto is back for a week and he's bringing Pudding with him, I can't wait to meet her! And Kisshu is bringing Ichigo, your mother seems to think that just because she's his fiancée she's pregnant, but I don't think so."**

**Pai nodded happily, "It'll be good to see them both; we haven't all been together in nearly a year! But we'll be seeing a lot more of my youngest brother soon though, the channel is almost complete, then he'll be able to visit as often as he wants!"**

**"You're so clever dear, there's no wonder your company is doing so well! You know as well as I do that these past years haven't been easy, but things are really starting to look up for us…"**

Pai stood nervously behind the main hall doors, jumping about on his feet and checking the clock on the wall every five seconds.

"Calm down Pai!" Kisshu exclaimed, grabbing onto his shoulder, "You've been through much worse than this!"

"Yeah!" Taruto agreed, "You can do it Pai!"

But Pai could only nod; his throat was too dry to speak. Then, the great gong sounded, and silence fell beyond the doors in front of them. Taruto went to stand in front of his two older brothers, and Pai moved to the back. Together, they entered the huge room, and, on cue, the musicians began to play. At the other end of the staircase Pai saw his wife-to-be enter through the other large doors, her face covered by a green veil that went all the way to the floor in front and behind her.

Under the veil, he knew she was wearing only her wedding-slip; it was a traditional garment that consisted of a tightly fitting bodice that covered from her chest to her upper thighs. No-one in the hall could see her flesh, however, as the thick veil revealed only the shape of her body.

The slow, yet flowing, music carried the pair closer together, down the stone staircases that faced each other at the back of the room. Zimbyla was following Ichigo and Pudding down the stairs, as was tradition to have two younger girls in front of her. Taruto was now living on Earth with his girlfriend, it hadn't been hard to convince his parents, and Kisshu and Ichigo were still in the spare room at my parent's house.

**_Pai's POV: _**_Once we were married, I had enough money together to buy first a small house near the edge of the city, but with my business idea, that would change pretty quickly! We were almost at the foot of the stairs now, and I had not taken my eyes off Zimbyla the whole way down. When we reached the bottom, Taruto and Kisshu took a left and went to sit at the front of the room with the men, and Ichigo and Pudding took a right and went to the other side of the hall to sit with the women at the front._

_Now it was only me and Zimbyla. We both turned to face the front of the hall, and I offered my arm to her, as was custom. He gripped me hard, probably trying to keep her balance in the huge heels she was wearing! The orchestra began a new piece, and this one was much solemner than the last. I took a deep breath and began the slow steps towards the official at the end of our path…_

_We had made it successfully down the stairs, and walked past all our friends and family without embarrassing ourselves. Now for the ceremony. All I had to do was remember the passage…_

_"And now, Pai Pakasama Ikisatashi, and Zimbyla Haruhi Otorison, take each other's hand and lead the way to your new life."_

_I could hear, behind me, my mother and several other women crying, and I could sense that Zimbyla herself was on the verge of tears! I grasped her hand and we turned to face the people sat watching us. Once I had announced our engagement, Zimbyla had been accepted back into her family, and so they were all sat in the audience too. The men sat on our left, and the women on the right, with the closest friends and family towards the front._

_We made our way back towards the staircases, but instead of splitting off and going back up, we both exited through the central door between the two sets of stairs. This was a tradition Cyniclons had been following for years; you enter the hall divided, and leave it together- it was symbolic. Waiting for us on the other side was the photography company we had hired. For the next hour, we would have to pose in various different ways for the photos, when all I really wanted to do was take Zimbyla home and relax!_

**_Zimbyla's POV: _**_I had done it! I had married Pai! After two years of waiting, it was finally over. Now we could look to the future at last; we already had plans. Pai was going to help his father with his business for a while, until he had enough funds to go his own way. Then he was going to start up his own business in travel and eventually expand it to leisure and probably more after that. I would stay at home with Peryzai as any other female Cyniclon would and mind the house._

_Everything had turned out just right, and I was so happy!_

**Daddy brought my cake to the table. It was pink and had the number six on it. I blew out the nuclear lighters and then mummy cut us all a slice. Someone was at the door. Daddy went to open it and when they came through I saw that it was Aunty Ichigo and Uncle Kisshu! They had brought me a present! I tore into the paper and inside was a new doll. It was 'Twinkle Starlight!' I thanked them politely how daddy had taught me and took her out of her box so I could play with her.**

**"Uncle Tar is going to be late," mummy told me, "But he is bringing Aunty Pudding with him!" yay! I love Aunty Pudding, she is the only old person that is actually fun around here! My daddy can be fun, but he is usually really boring. Later my friends are coming round for my party. I will get lots of presents from them to add to the lots of presents mummy and daddy bought me and the lots of presents grandmother and grandfather and nana and pops got me too! I wish it was always my birthday…**

**So Pai and Zimbyla are married! Review...**


	17. What happened five years ago

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I wandered aimlessly through the huge house. Ichigo and Lavinya had gone to visit Zimbyla, and Pai had gone out with our dad on some sort of business trip. Taruto was obviously not here, so that left me by myself all day. It was five years to the day that we had arrived home! And the five years had flown by! Pai, Zimbyla and Peryzai were now settled down in their new home round the corner from ours. It was an old house, but they had renovated it and now it was modern and sleek, like something from a house magazine!_

_Taruto and Pudding were both now well into their teen years, and were still as inseparable as ever! They both lived on Earthy, but the plan was to wait until her brothers and sisters had grown up and left home then they were going to move to Cynitopia. That would take years however; the youngest was still only nine! Until then, they were content to visit every weekend via 'the channel,' a quick and comfortable mode of transport designed and built by Pai's company._

_Ichigo and I were still living at my parent's house; we had a whole side of the house to ourselves now, rather than just a bedroom, I loved Ichigo more and more as each day passed, and I knew soon I would ask the question. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Ichigo, and I loved her more than I had ever loved anyone! I had known her for six years, but I still got those butterflies when I thought of her, and I wanted her to be mine forever! It hadn't all been easy though…_

_A week after we had arrived home, when Pai had sorted things out with Zimbyla, it was time to save our world. We were summoned to the high court to appear before the mayor and although we were made to feel like criminals at first due to our abandonment of Deep Blue, but once we had explained our story, and let the courts see our memories, we were forgiven and allowed to use Mew Aqua. The officials were a little surprised to 'learn' that there were Cyniclons living in other places in the universe, but not much attention was paid to Ichigo, and we decided against telling them about the prophecy._

_Putting the Mew Aqua to use was easy enough, Pai had already installed a transmitter on the ship; apparently he had been working on it on the way home. It was what happened afterwards that shocked us all…_

"It's done!" Pai shouted triumphantly, "In an hour's time our world will be as fertile and as beautiful as Earth used to be!" All the Cyniclons cheered at this, and there was much happy hugging, and shaking of hands. Even as they watched, the ground around them began to deepen in colour and sprout grass, the dust in the air seemed to vaporise, and the sky became much bluer!

The effect spread from the point they were stood at, and expanded outwards, until all the landscape they could see was as beautiful as the nearest patch of grass!

That night, all of Cynitopia gathered for a huge celebration. Everyone in the city attended, and they each brought food and drink to share with their neighbours. The four 'heroes' found themselves at the centre of everyone's attention , and soon they were tired of being congratulated and thanked, and Ichigo was sick of being asked who she was and where she had come from. Just as she was about to escape from all the noise and bustle of the party and go home, however, Kisshu appeared beside her and, taking her hand, led her away; leaving Pai and Taruto to tell the hustling crowds our story over and over again!

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_"Kisshu! Where are we going?" I giggled.  
"Somewhere we can be alone…" He replied mischievously. We both giggled, but my laughter was cut short as Kisshu suddenly swept me off my feet and teleported. We landed in a heap of limbs in what I thought at first was a wood. When I prised myself away from the chuckling Cyniclon on top of me, however, I saw that he had brought us to a clearing, in which was a small, clear pool._

_The trees were laden with fresh blossoms, and round the edge of the crisp pool grew beautiful water-plants that I had never seen before. The grass underneath us was soft and dry. And for a while I just sat there admiring the scenery.  
"Kisshu, where are we? It's beautiful here!" I gasped.  
He grinned happily, "This used to be the plains, I found it earlier as I was looking around this new world. As far as I know, I'm the only one who knows it's here yet, so we should be alone for a while!"_

_I felt tears spring into my eyes, "Oh Kisshu, this is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me!"_

_He seemed embarrassed, but I could tell he was glad I liked it. Suddenly, he pulled his shoes off and threw them behind him. I stared at him, puzzled. My confusion was only doubled when he reached up and tugged, over his head, his floaty brown top and took off his baggy shorts. Then he ran and slipped easily into the pool, laying back against the banks and closing his eyes._

_I giggled, and then began to take my boots off too. Unlike Kisshu, who haphazardly threw his clothes over his shoulder, I neatly folded mine and placed them carefully in a pile before gathering up his and doing the same. Eventually, I joined him in the clear water, slipping silently in beside him._

_Although I expected the water to be icy cold, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite warm; a little warmer than my body temperature! This, added to the mildness of the air, made for a perfect pool to bathe in, and so I closed my eyes and allowed the soothing waters to calm me._

_I felt a ripple in the water next to me as Kisshu moved closer, but didn't open my eyes. It wasn't until I felt his breath on my neck that I realised how close he was, and, startled, my eyes bolted open. He leaned his head on my shoulder, and I smiled, allowing my lids to shut once more in perfect bliss._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_This was the perfect night: the world had been saved, the council were not prying into who Ichigo was, my family had accepted us, and now I was lying in a pool with a half-naked Ichigo, and we were sat as close as two peas in a pod!_

_Her steady breathing relaxed me, and as I breathed in her heavenly scent, I felt a wave of peace wash over me. Slowly, I sat up and reached out for her face. Cupping her cheek in my hand, I leant forward and kissed her gently, savouring the moment. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back, and my stomach exploded with a hoard of butterflies!_

_Soon, we were surrounded in our kiss, and I could think of nothing else but her. All my brain could process was Ichigo's smooth, warm skin; her long, silky hair; her elegant, perfect body. I pulled her closer, and she gasped, although she didn't stop kissing me. I ran my hands down her back, and hers grasped my hair. The heat in the water began to increase, and though we both knew what was going to happen, neither one of us could bear to pull away._

_Our kiss became increasingly more passionate, and before long, I found myself supporting Ichigo's body, leaning against the edge of the pool, with her legs wrapped around me and her hands cupping my face up towards her!_

**_Kiichigo's POV: I knew it would happen before long but I don't want to stop. I have never loved anyone this much. You are my other half! We are only two orphans apart, but together we are so much more! Together, nothing can stand in our way. Hmm, interesting; we are both orphans; I have never realised that before! Lips, hair, skin, water…_**

**"Mom! Where's my mommy?" I was screaming at the doctor, but he didn't hear me. "My dada! My mommy! I want them!" I started to cry…**

**I was sat in a white room with a pretty lady. She was talking to me, but I wasn't listening. Then two grown-ups came into the room with a boy older than me…**

**I woke up from a nightmare to see my new mummy sat at the foot of my bed. She was looking at me all worried, and I realised there were tears on my face. Then she shuffled closer and hugged me…**

**I was playing with my toy sword-men when ****_it_**** crawled over to me. The baby started trying to take my toys and I started to scream. My new mummy ran into the room and picked up the baby. Then my new big-brother came in and took the baby. He started to play with him and ignored me…**

**I was saying goodbye to Pai and Taruto. Pai was upset because ****_he_**** had wanted to go on the mission, but Taruto was excited for me to go, because he got to have my room. My mum was crying, and my dad was proud, but I didn't know how to feel because I would miss them despite pretending that I wouldn't…**

**I was sat on the roof of some building in Tokyo and my heart hurt. My heart hadn't hurt like this since the day in the hospital all those years ago. I watched Ichigo with Aoyama and I wanted them both dead. It was her fault. It was Ichigo's fault that nothing worked! I would save her from Pai and Taruto, but then I would kill her. That was the only way to hurt Aoyama…**

_We are pulling apart. What just happened? They were my memories. Why are we still connected? I saw _your_ memories this time. This is weird. We are frowning at each other. It is the prophecy. You might be right! Thy gift divide… you must have given me your gift of mind power!_

_Yes! And with thine love, thy gift divide! But we can't be connected forever! Maybe we have to fully divide the gift to stop connecting minds? You're right, we have to pour all of our love into each other; if we both have the gift, we might stop doing this! We should try it… Kiss me…_

**You wanted Kishigo fluff so there you go... And what will they have to do to divide the gift? PM's with ideas if you have any. Review...**


	18. Problem solved

Kisshu reached out for Ichigo, and, with one hand securely on her waist, he pulled her to him so that their bodies were pressed up against each other. Her skin was on his, and his lips were on hers. There was one problem: their minds were dangerously connected. The only way to undo what had happened was to share enough love so that Ichigo's gift, her phenomenal mind powers, were properly divided between the two of them, instead of only being shared when they kissed. If they did that, then hopefully they could kiss each other without being able to read each other's mind.

Once again, his mouth was on hers, and her tongue was on his; her arms were wrapped tightly around him, and his hands were exploring her body. Kisshu suddenly broke away from the kiss, leaving Ichigo breathless and wanting, and began to kiss her neck. His kisses were like small drops of heaven; little rays of starlight on a black night. This time, when their minds connected, they not only carried on, but they pushed their love to a new limit, intent on their mission to divide the gift once and for all…

**_Pai's POV: _**_My mother was in tears, panicking about the absence of Kisshu and Ichigo. Zimbyla and Peryzai were staying the night at ours, as the party was continuing right outside her house, and so there was no peace to be ad for the baby. I tried to console her, but she was having none of it. In the end, I had resorted to an old-fashioned tracking device that would lead me to them._

_The only downside was that it was a manual device- meaning I had to walk around Cynitopia until it picked up their presence. The task was a tedious one, but there was no way I was going home without them!_

_A whole hour of mindless wandering later, the tracker began to emit a quiet beeeeeep. The noise got steadily louder as I made my way out of town; this was not good, they shouldn't have ventured away from the main city for any reason! For a second, the beep wavered, but I turned and headed in a slightly different direction, and it picked up again, this time twice as loud._

_Eventually, I stumbled across the pair in a clearing in the blossom woods. They were asleep next to a clear pool wearing… it was hard to see in the dark… I stumbled back in shock and my loud footsteps woke Kisshu. He turned beetroot red when he saw me, and hurriedly woke Ichigo, whose face also began to burn up._

_"I- I suggest you get yourselves back home now!" I exclaimed, "Mother's been worried sick about you two, do you know you've been missing for six hours? None of us has had a wink of sleep!" I turned and walked disgustedly away, shaking my head like an old man._

_I teleported back home, and was joined mere seconds later by a sheepish Kisshu, and a downright humiliated Ichigo. My mother was all relief and hugs when she saw them, unlike my father who asked rather sternly:  
"And just where have you two been? Your mother was worried sick!"_

_I saw Kisshu glance quickly at me, and I knew he was asking me not to tell. In a split second decision that cannot have been thought through properly due to lack of sleep, I nodded at him to say that I would keep their secret, and, relieved, Kisshu told our father a jumbled up excuse that accounted for where they had been._

_Sometime later, he finished his much edited version of events, and promptly looked around the room to see if anyone had bought it. I had to fight the urge to laugh- 'they were too hot, they went for a swim, and then they fell asleep watching the stars'? _That _was Kisshu's story to cover for six hours of absence!_

_To my surprise, my father nodded and accepted the lie!  
"Never mind, what matters is that you're safe. Next time, just let us know, okay?" Typical._

_In the morning, I would pry what really happened out of Kisshu, and he'd better have a good explanation…_

The next morning, Pai interrogated Kisshu and Ichigo as to what they had actually been doing, and to his surprise they let in easily. Within a few minutes, they story was told, and Pai wore an expression of shock and concern.

"So you say it worked? You have effectively split the gift?" he asked, a little impressed.  
"Hai," Ichigo replied, "Our minds shouldn't connect anymore, even when we're kissing." Her cheeks went a little pink as she said this, but despite that, she seemed unashamed.

Then life went back to normal for the Ikisatashis, everyone was looking forward to Pai's wedding, and already the plans had begun to take shape…

**_Six years later, Kisshu's POV:_**_ So after that, there wasn't much drama for our family. Soon, Ichigo and I will be married, and when we are, father's going to hand over half of his business to me as a starting point; that should give me enough to buy a house for the two of us. Ichigo Ikisatashi… sounds good!_

They say the higher you are, the further you have to fall. Something was happening in Cynitopia, something no-one could have predicted, and it would affect them all…

**So, there we are. Not sure whether to bring this story to a close and start a part 2, or just carry on. Anyway review please!**


	19. Rebellion

"So then Mrs Ikisatashi, what is it couples normally do on their honeymoon?" Kisshu smirked mischievously,  
"Enjoy each other's company?" Ichigo faked innocence, batting her long eyelashes at her new husband, who chuckled,  
"And that's exactly what I intend to do Koneko-chan…"

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I lay next to my husband, my perfect husband, and thought about how lucky I was that I had him. He shuffled in his sleep and muttered my name. I grinned and smoothed the green hair off his handsome face. Kisshu rolled over and flung a muscly arm over my body, pinning me to the bed and making me giggle. There was no way I could sleep in this position, but I couldn't move his heavy arm without waking him, so I decided against sleep, and settled for stroking his prefect cheek instead._

_He began mumbling in my ear, and the tickly sensation made me wriggle. Alarmed, he woke up and, seeing that I was trapped beneath him, he moved his arm away and apologized._

_I kissed him to show he was forgiven, but when I tried to pull away, he grabbed my head and kept the kiss going.  
"Greedy!" I snickered when he finally let go._

_He smirked, and then leaned slowly closer, gazing into my eyes as he did. I closed my eyes and in a second we were kissing again, this time slower, and gentler than before. His hands roamed freely over me, as mine did him. Since that day six years ago, we had been able to kiss freely, but I couldn't help but wonder- what was it all for? Why did we have a 'gift'? _

Meanwhile, deep, deep underground, five young Cyniclons sat around a burning fire, talking in muted voices.  
"Deep Blue wouldn't have betrayed us, we worshipped him!"  
"It's that Ikisatashi man, he's the one who ruined the mission six years ago. If it wasn't for him, we could have had Earth by now!"

"You were only a child six years ago, how do you even know what you're talking about? And anyway, he healed Cynitopia, now our planet is more fertile than Earth so why do you want it so badly?" the oldest of the group spoke out against the others, who all glared at him for daring contradict them.

"My mother often talks about it, and it is not the fertility of the planet we want, it is the lost architecture. Many centuries ago, our people built and buried many wonderful, mind-blowing things; including a powerful fortress! Now that our people have given up all hope of regaining Earth, it is almost certain that these structures, along with the secrets hidden within them, will be lost. Do you want that?"

The man who had spoken was clearly their leader, all except the older Cyniclon looked to him with admiration, and nodded at his powerful speech.

"So what do you intend to do sir?" The youngest asked timidly.  
"_We_ will strike back. First, we kill Kisshu Ikisatashi and his new wife, that mystery Cyniclon, and then we rally the rest of Cynitopia to invade the Earth. If all of our population go there, we can surely beat those weak humans. Once there, we take back what belongs to us, once and for all!"

There were various noises of agreement at this, as all but one who sat around the fire looked around them excitedly.

"So are you with me?" Their leader asked.  
"Aye!" Three of the four Cyniclons replied confidently. All eyes turned to the one who had not spoken. The oldest man looked back at them all defiantly,  
"I think what you are attempting is pointless. You want to massacre billions of innocent people just to uncover a few ancient buildings? It's lunacy!"

"That is your choice. But you understand we can't have you blabbing to all of Cynitopia?"

The old Cyniclon became suddenly fearful as the others stood and began to encircle him. They each then drew from inside their long, black cloaks a dagger, and raised them above their heads.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this," the leader said coldly, "You would have been quite an asset what with your military experience. But, it can't be helped." He nodded to the others, and they all struck…

Three daggers clattered uselessly to the floor after hitting the stone wall behind the spot the traitor had just been standing before he had teleported.

They looked at the spot angrily, frustrated that they had been outsmarted. All but one, that is; Homahiya Makusi smiled evilly to himself; his dagger had found its mark…

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_The magical night was over already, but as the first rays of sun peeked through the silken curtains of our honeymoon suite, I smiled. It may be the end of our wedding night, but it was the start of a new, and happy, life. I lay still and listened to Ichigo's steady breathing, enjoying the peaceful moment._

_All of a sudden, the air rippled and a stranger appeared in our bedroom. He was middle-aged, and wore a floor-length, black cloak, that was ripped in the stomach area, and the hood of which had fallen down to reveal his long black hair and big, black eyes._

_Startled, I sat up in my bed, causing Ichigo to suddenly wake. She screamed when she saw the strange Cyniclon standing at the end of our bed, and I put a protective arm in front of her to shield her in case he proved to be aggressive towards us._

_"I'm not here to… hurt you…" he gasped. I realised for the first time that he was bleeding profusely from the place where his cloak was ripped, despite trying to staunch the bleeding with his hand, and he carried in his spare hand a blood-stained dagger._

_Moving quickly over to him, I sat him down on the bed, and helped him stop the blood from pouring out of the stab wound.  
"What happened? Who did this to you…? Who are you?"_

_His eyes were starting to droop, and his breathing had become more laboured and forced.  
"There's no time to explain…" He wheezed, "They're coming… for you both… to murder… They want… The Earth. They intend to… Take it by force…"_

_Kisshu's face was as white as a sheet.  
"Who? WHO?!" He yelled, panicked._

_"Four of them… the leader… Homahiya Makusi… they won't strike… yet…" His words were getting more spaced out, and he was an unnatural shade of grey._

_"Why did they do this to you, and why are they targetting us?" Ichigo asked, feigning calmness.  
"I… betrayed them… and they…. Think you… are to blame for…" He winced, and paused for a long while before continuing on almost a whisper, "Deep Blue's death."_

_"Who are you?" Kisshu asked hoarsely._

_"I am… Harun… Asosa Harun…"_

_He took one last, rattled breath, before his eyes glazed over and his limbs went weak. Asosa sighed deeply as the last of the air in his lungs emptied. Ichigo sobbed, staring in shock at the corpse laid at the foot of her bed, and Kisshu had to leave the room to be sick. He returned shortly, although he still looked rather green, and came to stand next to a distraught Ichigo._

_"It will be fine," He said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Although we need to tell everyone as soon as possible. If these men are targeting us, our whole family is in danger!"_

_Ichigo, who was now crying into Kisshu's shoulder, looked up and nodded in agreement. The pair got quickly dressed and teleported first to Pai and Zimbyla's house to collect Pai, and then the three of them teleported to Lavinya and Pakasama's…_

**Okay, so quite a twist to the plot... and since it's christmas, review review review!**


	20. The High Official

"All rise." They all stood up…

"Please stand, Kisshu Ikisatashi." Kisshu took his place at the stand, and prepared to tell the judge what had happened earlier that day. As he relayed the events, his newly wed wife Ichigo let a sob get past her perfectly composed expression. She had been crying on and off all day, and despite her best efforts to control them, little bursts of emotion kept escaping.

When he had finished his story, Kisshu looked around him to see what the general reaction of the court was. Several members looked stunned; others doubtful, but the one member with no emotion showing was Yeldray Teragram, the High Magistrate and Acting Prime Official of Cynitopia.

She peered down at Kisshu over the rims of her spectacles and her face was as emotionless as stone.  
"Do you know how I got this position?" She leered patronisingly at him. Kisshu shook his head, a little intimidated.

Rather than answer, Yeldray merely sniffed and turned to face the jury, who were all staring at her in bewilderment. She raised a perfectly pencilled-on eyebrow at them, and they suddenly stopped looking at her.

"Our," she paused as if looking for the right word, "_friend_ here has suggested that _we_, the leaders of the democracy, have let something slip past us. He is inferring that _he, _a mere citizen of Cynitopia- albeit one who restored our planet- knows what we do not. If he is to be believed, four of our people are, right now, planning a rebellion, part of which involves murdering his wife and him." She broke off to look superiorly around the court room, catching each and every Cyniclon's eye in turn, before turning back to the trembling jury next to her.

"The BET, or," She turned to look to the 'commoners' in the audience, "Body examination team, have analysed the body found earlier, and they have concluded he died of a stab wound to the stomach. Make of this what you will, however the rest of his story cannot be proven." The last three words of this speech were defined, with small pauses between each one as Yeldray leered out over her high stand, and each word was perfectly pronounced and articulated.

Then she gathered her composure, folded her hands across the desk in front of her, and scanned the court room before her.  
"I will examine the witness."

With that, Yeldray stood- the court rising as she did- and left the room, summoning Ichigo to follow her. Stunned silence filled the room, and everyone watched as a trembling Ichigo left her seat next to Kisshu and left the room through the same door the Prime Official had just walked through.

**_Yeldray's POV: _**_Truth be told, I was inwardly panicking about the rebellion. If it was true, and it got out that something like this had slipped past us, I would be ruined. Outwardly, I kept up the pretence. Pretended to be calm, cynical even. If you let people see your weaknesses, they will use them against you. Better to appear a cold and emotionless shell; that way people found you intimidating, even powerful, and _you_ are in control of the situation._

_So as Ichigo Ikisatashi entered my interrogation room, I kept my face set, like it was carved out of wood._

_"Please, sit." My tone was icy and I swear I saw Ichigo shudder as I spoke. Nevertheless, she sat in the small, but comfortable, chair facing my desk. This put me in the superior position, as I was stood above her, and consequently, she would feel intimidated._

_I had a system for interrogations: ask the first few question stood above them and let them know who was in charge. Then offer them a drink and sit down, (on a higher chair of course,) opposite them to make them feel more relaxed, and ask the more difficult questions._

_Finally, when it is time to ask the questions you know they won't want to answer, you sigh and lean back informally. When the interview is over, you revert back to your ice-cold, heartless self and finish with some cutting remark that was sure to leave a bruise. That way, they left the room awed and intimidated by you as when they entered._

_Today however, something felt different. As usual, the interviewee seemed timid and nervous, but despite the awkward posture of the girl, Ichigo had a defiant gleam in her eye that stood out to me. It was for this reason I said what I did and shocked even myself._

_"I want to take you on as an apprentice." As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them. For the first time in what must be five years now, I had been spontaneous! Usually, I planned my words and thought about what to say carefully; it was important for me to make the right impression, and here I was blabbing the first thing that came into my mind._

_The red-haired teenager looked up at me sharply, her mouth in a small 'o', and her limbs frozen in shock.  
"You know, contact me later when you've thought. We have other matters at hand." I redirected, furious at myself for my rash stupidity._

_The rest of the interrogation went as smoothly as was possible, considering it had got off to a bad start, and by the end, I was confident that the Ikisatashis were being truthful. Rather than leave Ichigo with a cutting remark as I usually did, I held out my perfectly moisturised and manicured hand for her to shake, although I did not go as far to smile at her._

_Just as she was leaving, I went once more against my better judgement, and spoke my mind:  
"Keep it to yourself, about my offer that is. I never offer this opportunity to people and I don't want to start. Understand?"_

_So much for leaving a good impression. The girl nodded, bewildered, before turning and leaving the room, letting the door slam shut behind her._

_When she had, I allowed myself to slouch and put my head in my hands- carefully so as not to smudge my make-up however. Then I sat up straight and slapped myself. Stupid woman! There came a knock on the door just as I was applying more make-up to my cheek to hide the redness and the head jury-member entered._

_"We're ready highness." He announced then left and shut the door._

_I stood, ready to re-enter the court and tell them all my decision: to send my agents after the foursome and have them arrested, and to station agents around all Ikisatashi residences for protection. If they could see me now, I inwardly scorned my past 'friends,' if they knew just who the "freak" had become, but they never would; they were dead._

**Wasn't sure about introducing a new character, but I quite like her now! Review and tell me what you think of her:)**


	21. Ichigo Accepts

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I sat nervously in the waiting room. I had decided to take Yeldray Teragram up on her offer, although I had not told Kisshu about it yet. Right now our house and Pai's house was surrounded by security guards in case the rebels tried anything, and I appreciated the extra protection, but I couldn't deny it was annoying. We had to be escorted everywhere by at least one gun-carrying thug, which I was also grateful for, but being followed by a huge, armed bodyguard attracted a lot of attention, and the constant staring and whispering was starting to get to me._

_I had begun to wonder whether there actually was a group of rebels planning to murder me and Kisshu and attack Earth; there hadn't been any evidence to suggest these people even existed!_

_"The Prime official will see you now." A snooty Cyniclon with black hair was suddenly stood in the room with me, although I had not noticed him enter. I stood anxiously, trying to stop my legs from shaking, and walked quickly into Yeldray's office. She was sat behind her desk, her manicured nails rapping on the glass surface impatiently as she peered at me with her crystal-blue eyes._

_"I- I've decided to accept your offer." I stammered, but then mentally kicked myself; what a bad impression that was!  
"I'm glad," Yeldray replied, "Who have you spoken of this to?"_

_"No-one, but I would like to tell my husband now that I have accepted. If that's alright?" I asked.  
She merely nodded and waved her hand to indicate for me to sit down opposite her._

_"You may tell him that you have accepted my apprenticeship offer, but what I am about to tell you must not leave this room." Then she reached underneath the desk and produced a key, which she then used to unlock a metal, padlocked drawer to the left of her chair. From within, Yeldray produced a thick document, consisting of about ten sheets that were stapled together._

_The document was laid in front of me, and into my hand Yeldray thrust a very expensive looking pen.  
"I need to be sure you will not go spreading the things I will tell you while you work in this office." She told me clearly, "Therefore, I would appreciate if you would sign this contract. You may read through it, but I can assure you that it had nothing to do with anything other than your promise to keep quiet."_

_I nodded unsurely; should I sign? Yes, I would, after all, I wanted this apprenticeship- I wouldn't stay at home while Kisshu worked, and I didn't know enough about Cyniclon professions to take on any other job. At least this one was a little similar to one you might find on my last planet._

_There were several pages to sign, but once I had signed them all, Yeldray relaxed visibly.  
"I will keep this session short. In the half an hour we have, we will run through the basics of the job, and what your training will consist of. If you have any questions, ask them as soon as they pop into your head or you will undoubtedly forget them."_

_I nodded in reply, extremely daunted by the intimidating woman before me. She seemed, for once, a little lost for words.  
"And if I intimidate you then I'm sorry, its just a habit I guess." She spoke softly, kindly, and the gesture shocked me into smiling at her.  
"Now," she continued as if the exchange hadn't happened, "To be a Prime official is to be a leader…"_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Ichigo had gone out, saying she wanted to do some shopping, but I didn't believe her. She had been quiet and thoughtful ever since she had been interrogated by the High Minister, and I was concerned about her. Choosing not to ask her about it, I had decided to merely keep a close watch on her to make sure she was okay, but my efforts were failing._

_My parents were out seeing friends and Pai was too busy to visit, so I decided to visit Taruto. The channel between Cynitopia and earth had been completed, but due to the circumstances of the rebellion, Pai had decided to keep it quiet and use it only for family visits, although he had the courts permission to do so. I fastened my belt and lowered myself into the teleport-pod, ready to set off, before placing the safety goggles over my eyes. Then I hit the button on the dashboard and entered the security code: I was away!_

**_Yeldray's POV: _**_Our first session had gone well! Ichigo was a bright girl, and would learn well; I was confident about her! She had signed the contract without much question which worried me, if she was to make a good Prime official, she would have to learn to consider every detail before making a decision, but we had time to work on that._

_My rash decision to take her on had paid off, and I was, for once, glad I had spoken spontaneously. Today, I had filled her in on the duties of a High Minister and made her aware of the details of her apprenticeship. I had just over a year to train her before it would happen…_

_But I mustn't think of that now, I had to focus on the present and not get too bogged down in what the future held for me. Oh, but how I regretted it now…_

_Anyway, what to do about these rebels?_

**That evening, **Ichigo and Kisshu were sat in the grand dining room eating tea, when the butler appeared with the portable telephone.  
"Apologies sir and madam," He announced, "But Mr and Mrs Ikisatashi will not be returning home tonight, and the wished to speak to one of you." He handed the phone to Kisshu who was nearest and stepped back professionally.

Kisshu spoke briefly to his mother before passing the phone back to the butler who left the room as quietly as he had entered. Ichigo looked questioningly at her husband who quickly filled her in:  
"My parents have decided to spend the night at their friends' house. They have had quite a bit to drink, and do not want to risk the journey home."

"Ah, but I never had your parents down as drinkers?" Ichigo said, surprised.  
"No, they don't usually, but I guess they're allowed to let loose once on a while." He shrugged.

"So, we have the house to ourselves it seems…" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at Kisshu, who smirked back.

They both stood graciously from the table, and turned to thank the maid who was standing by should they need anything.  
"Please send our compliments to Mr Hinayu." Kisshu told her, "The chef," he added quietly to Ichigo, who had looked a bit confused. With that, they both left the dining room and walked slowly through the hall, holding hands, and nodding to the serving staff who lined their way.

When they had passed them, however, they both broke into an excitable run, and raced, laughing hysterically, to their room…

**Why did the Ikisatashis decide to spend the night away? You'll have to wait and see! But you could always pass the time by writing a sneaky revew?**


	22. Ichigo realises

Beep. The phone line cut off. Pakasama Ikisatashi looked inquisitively at his wife, who nodded sadly back. It was done.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu's hands were around my waist, and mine were in his hair. We were kissing, just as we did every night; and possibly every morning as well- in fact, every minute we were together was spent mostly kissing! The truth was, the experience was just too heavenly to get used too; kissing Kisshu never got old! I wonder if it's like this for Pai and Zimbyla? Although they have Peryzai to fuss over now, I suppose that occupies most of their time!_

_I'd never really thought about children before, I mean, I assume Kisshu and I will have a family some day, but I'm still only 19! I feel so much older than that, although in Cynitopia, you are an adult from 16, rather than on Earth when you do not become fully recognised as a grown-up until you are 18, or sometimes 20!_

_I'd quite like to name our children, when we have them, after my parents. I still think about them a lot, even though I haven't seen them for over six years now! They usually crossed my mind at night, when I lay next to Kisshu in our huge bed. He always goes to sleep about an hour before me, and it is in that hour that I always lay awake remembering my life before Kisshu._

_My life before Kisshu… it was like the Earth way of counting years- BC and AD, although this was more like BK and AK: before Kisshu and after Kisshu! All the time I was having these strange thoughts, Kisshu was still kissing me; still pouring his soul into mine just as we always have since that day by the pool…_

_It was _that_ time. That short period of time where Kisshu is asleep next to me, breathing deeply but quietly. I leant over and kissed his soft cheek before snuggling down into my feathery pillows. I thought about my new occupation, Kisshu had been surprised when I had told him, but for some reason he had seemed relieved as well. I let it go over my head, as long as he was happy about it, I wasn't going to argue!_

_Why had I accepted Yeldray's offer? It wasn't like I had ever wanted to work in law when I was older, not even politics! If I was honest with myself, it was mainly to do with Kisshu's parents. They were used to the idea of me being half human by now, and I knew they had accepted me as a daughter-in-law willingly and happily, but still I wanted to prove myself to them!_

_Although they had never given me any reason to think it, I still got the impression they did not regard me as completely Cyniclon, and for some reason I thought that by getting a proper, and by all means, respectable job that most Cyniclons would aspire to they would accept me more easily. I sighed Kisshu would call me silly for thinking that however, which was why I had never concerned him with my doubts. It was a good thing we didn't connect minds when we kissed now!_

_I wondered why Kisshu had seemed so concerned by his parents staying out the night, my parents used to do it sometimes, and I had been six years younger and alone then! Maybe it was just because they weren't drinkers, and clearly they had become to drunk to drive home._

_Hang on. They had a driver. The security guards that had been assigned to us acted as our chauffeurs as well… there was no way on this planet that their guard had been drinking, he would have been fired immediately for doing that! And they wouldn't stay out without a reason, Lavinya and Pakasama would never trespass on someone elses hospitality for nothing; they hadn't been brought up that way!_

_That means: 1) they weren't at their friend's house;_

_ 2) Their security guard wasn't with them and_

_ 3) Either they didn't want us to know where they were or…_

_They hadn't been able to tell us._

**Lavinya's tears** flowed undisturbed over her cheeks; her make-up smeared and smudged from endless weeping. She could not see her husband, but knew he wasn't conscious; he was no longer trying to squirm out of his bindings. _Okay, run through it again… _she thought to herself.

_Our guard has been shot and is currently at the bottom of some lake somewhere. We are tied up somewhere underground and as far as I know are the only ones who are. We are being held captive by three or four armed men who aren't afraid to use force to get what they want. The good new is that they obviously don't want to kill us, or they would have already. The bad news is that they clearly want something from us, and no amount of denial could delude me as to what it was: Kisshu and Ichigo._

**I know it's short, but if I had written any more, I wouldn't have been able to stop! Reviews please...**


	23. Help!

**Ichigo shook Kisshu** awake urgently, but when he batted her away and rolled over, she slapped him sharply across the face. That woke him up, and he sat up suddenly, clutching his stinging cheek.  
"What was that for?!" he exclaimed. Ichigo was not sympathetic.

"It's your parents…" She filled him in on what she knew, and he immediately sprang out of bed, and grabbed his phone from his bedside table.

"Yes. Yes. I understand, but this is urgent!" He said impatiently. "I need you to contact Hamasashi… Yes now!"

I sat nervously on the edge of our bed, awaiting the verdict. For a while there was nothing. but then someone on the end of the phone said something incomprehensible to me.  
"Thank you. Yes, if you would. I'll expect you within half an hour."

Kisshu's eyes were shut as he hung up the phone.  
"Put some clothes on." He muttered harshly.

Normally, I would have been hurt by his cold tone, but I understood, perhaps a little too well, what he was going through. As I scrambled around finding my clothes, Kisshu dialled another number, and when no-one picked up, he dialled it again impatiently. A croaky voice appeared on the other end, and though I could not properly hear it, I recognised Pai's annoyed tone.

"Yes Pai, I know what time it is!" Kisshu yelled down the phone, "It's mum and dad, we think they've got them!"  
There was no explanation needed, Pai hung up the phone, and within minutes, he had teleported into their room, and was stood in the doorway looking panicked and angry.

"Why didn't you notice?!" he yelled at Kisshu, completely ignoring Ichigo's presence.

"They rang us up!" Kisshu yelled back, "They said they were staying out! Why would I question them?"

"I don't know, but you should have! You should have…" Pai trailed off and sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just… how did this happen?"

Kisshu sighed as well, "It's okay, I guess they were just waiting for an opportunity to strike, mum and dad only had one security guard, and it's my guess he's dead now. The rebels are clearly cleverer than we realised, in fact, if it weren't for Ichigo, we wouldn't even know they had been kidnapped!"

**Pakasama had **regained consciousness, although Lavinya could tell he was weak: his breathing was shallow and laboured, and he wasn't struggling like he had been earlier. She could not communicate with her husband- they had both been gagged, and their wrists and ankles were bound together. Already, her muscles had cramped up, and she was light-headed with dehydration. Someone was walking slowly towards them, no, two- three people, maybe even four, Lavinya couldn't tell.

Then two people were suddenly in front of her, and two muzzles were against her head. The men were wearing long black cloaks, the hoods of which covered their faces. On of them bent down and ripped the gag from her mouth; it was sticky tape, and stung when it had been removed. Then they wrenched open her jaw and removed the wad of material that had kept her quiet from her mouth.

**_Lavinya's POV: _**_"Where are they? Where are Kisshu and Ichigo?" One of them asked me._

_I shook my head, fearful but defiant. Surely these criminals knew where we lived? If they knew enough about us to know where Pakasama and I would be this evening, surely they would know where Kisshu and Ichigo were right now, they wouldn't be out would they?_

_The one to my right slapped my cheek. Hard. My eyes started to water, but I was determined not to show them just how scared I was.  
"I'll ask again. Where is your son?!" the other yelled at me._

_When I still said nothing, he spat in my face. My stomach turned in revulsion, but I couldn't do anything about it; my hands were tied after all._

_"Fine," His voice was now deadly quiet, and this scared me more than the shouting, "Maybe you just need a little persuasion."_

_He nodded to someone behind me, and on cue, two more hooded thugs appeared before dragging my husband with them. His eyes were only just open, but his face was one of determination, and I knew by looking at his face that he was telling me not to give in. I stuck my chin out defiantly, but my defiance was soon tested when the speaker moved his gun away from my head and pointed it at my husband instead._

_"You still want to defy us?" he asked sarcastically, smirking at me. My head was spinning. He wouldn't do it, surely? He must be bluffing. After all, if he did it, I would be even less likely to tell him right?_

_"Oh, I won't kill him straight away." He read my mind, "But for every half hour you continue to stay silent, I will shoot one of his limbs. You tell us where your son is, and not only will I stop shooting, but I will administer the antibiotics."_

_Antibiotics? There wasn't anything that could cure a gun-wound!_

_"There is no such thing." I managed to croak. He smiled at me evilly._

_"You sure?" Suddenly I wasn't._

_Then, before I could take it back, he shot Pakasama in the leg, causing me to scream. My vision blurred, but then the hooded man pulled a small bottle form inside his cloak, and tipped a small drop onto Pakasama's wound. The skin healed up immediately, but after one look at the blood on his trousers, my husband passed out, his head flopping onto his chest._

_"So what's it to be?"_

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu and Pai were talking nonsense. I didn't understand a word they were saying, because one thing was running through my head: why couldn't Lavinya and Pakasama teleport away from where they were?_

_"Why can't they teleport home?" I asked them, but at the look on their faces, I knew they though it was a stupid question._

_"If the kidnappers are clever enough to even kidnap them, I'm sure they will have thought of that." Pai told me shortly._

_Kisshu was a little more explanatory, "There are certain precautions you can take to prevent teleporting. Certain metals cannot be passed through. Banks have them; otherwise anyone could teleport into a safe and steal whatever they wanted!"_

_I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of that before! It seemed obvious now…_

_I could feel another stupid question coming up:_

_"Why can't we just track them with that tracking device?"_

_Another blank look from Kisshu and Pai._

_"The same reason, the metal that prevents teleporting also prevents tracking. We can't do either."_

_Suddenly I felt very stupid. "So we track them manually? We go to the house and find out when they left and stuff?"_

_They both sighed at the same time._

_"That's what we're doing." Pai told me shortly, speaking to me as if I was thick. It angered me- if it hadn't been for me, they wouldn't even know they had gone! I slipped out of the room, but neither of them noticed: they were too busy discussing what to do…_

**_Lavinya's POV: _**_One hour and two gun-wounds later, Pakasama was definitely looking the worse for wear. He wouldn't last another hour, and I could only hope that someone had noticed our disappearance, although I doubted it. Kisshu and Ichigo thought we were staying out and Pai wouldn't be worrying about us. Even if someone had noticed, they couldn't track us, I had tried teleporting, but knowing that didn't work, I knew a tracker wouldn't either._

_So I three options, let Pakasama die, tell them where Kisshu might be, or lie._

_The first two were definitely out. I wouldn't let them kill my husband, and I wouldn't give them any clues to the location of my son, so I had to lie._

_"Alright!" I screamed, "I'll tell you!" Pakasama shook his head and grunted through his gag, but I ignored him._

_"If he's not at home…?" I trailed off hopefully._

_"No, he's not, and you know he's not." He spat._

_"Okay," I tried to look as if I knew what I was talking about, but truthfully, I had no idea._

_"Heal my husband and I'll tell you." I wanted the upper hand, but he wasn't going to give me it easily._

_"Oh no! I heal your husband and you'll _forget_ where they are." He said spitefully, "You don't tell me in five minutes and I will kill Pakasama." He kicked Pakasama and he grunted; I felt sick._

_Then I had an idea, I could send them somewhere they would be caught by security guards!_

_"He's staying at a friends!" I mumbled, "At no.34 Airwick." _

_My captor nodded to two of his comrades, who dropped Pakasama and ran away into the dark tunnel. Then he dropped one drop of the medicine onto my husband's wounds, which began to heal, although he was still weak due to losing a lot of blood._

_For what seemed like hours, we sat in the cold, dark silence, listening to nothing but Pakasama's wheezing, and the occasional shuffling of the criminals. I was just praying, praying, praying that my plan had worked!_

_Then they returned, panting from running, and my hopes lifted; they didn't have Kisshu. On the other hand, they were still alive, and now they would know that I had lied._

_They stopped just in front of us, and doubled up, panting and coughing._

_"He wasn't there. We only just… escaped." They recovered slightly, and shot me evil looks, one of them spat at me, although luckily, his aim was bad._

_The one I had come to realise was their leader, growled angrily at me._

_"You bitch!" he spat, and my ears buzzed at the foul language. Then he whirled around and shot Pakasama._

**Sorry, it's quite long-winded, but I had to say it all or it wouldn't make sense! I'm not even going to say it, you know what to do...**


	24. The Hospital and the House

Ichigo stood in Yeldray's spacious lounge and watched the action unfold. Her plan had worked better than she had thought it would, but how did they know she was here? Surely they couldn't have traced her to no.34 Airwick? Yeldray was on the phone to her head security guard, and from the relaxed tone of her voice, the search was going well. About fifteen minutes ago, two hooded men had attempted to break into the house, and when Ichigo had recognised them as part of the rebellion, Yeldray had sent her guards to track them down.

"They've gone underground? Well go down. Yes, there should only be four. Okay. Bye." She cut off the phone. "They've traced them to an underground tunnel where the tracker stopped working. Ten men have gone down after them, and five have stayed by the entrance, so we're covered."

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I relaxed slightly, help was on the way to Pakasama and Lavinya. Now to ring Kisshu…_

_"Hello, Kisshu?"  
"Yes, Ichigo where are you?" Came his slightly frustrated reply. I could tell he was annoyed with me.  
"Kisshu cool it! I'm at the Prime Official's, her guards have tracked two of the men to some sort of tunnel and they've gone after them. I don't know how they knew I was here, but it's over! Your parents will be fine!"_

_There was a pause on the other end, "You say they've gone after them?" He sounded hopeful,  
"Yes," I replied, "In no time at all your parents will be out of there."_

_Kisshu breathed out a sigh of relief, "Can you come home now?" He pleaded, I laughed, sometimes he sounded just like a child! before teleporting home._

**_Homahiya Makusi's POV: _**_I threw my gun down in disgust. I had tried to shoot the man, but had been out of bullets. That was our bullets used up now; all we had left was whatever was in the others' guns already. The woman had passed out when she had heard the gunshot which was something; with any luck she would think her husband was dead, and then she might talk._

_Pakasama Ikisatashi was staring up at me with his serious eyes, not moving, or trying to escape; it was as if he knew he was going to die down here. I spat at him to show him just what I thought of him, then turned to my men. We needed a new strategy. Thanks to that traitor Asosa Harun, all of Cynitopia knew about us, and not any good thing at that. This was not how I had planned it. But that's what you get for trusting older Cyniclons, better to stick the younger, more naïve ones who follow you like a lost puppy._

_I shut my eyes and massaged my temple; I could feel a headache coming on._

_"Throw down you weapons! Hands in the air!"_

_Loud footsteps were echoing down the dark tunnel. My men looked at me for instructions, but I had none. It was over; we were at a dead end, and if there was any chance of escape it was by shooting whoever was running towards us. Two problems, I could tell we were hugely outnumbered, and we were almost out of bullets. This was the end._

**_Lavinya's POV: _**_My head hurt. No. It didn't hurt, because I was dead. There was no other explanation for this feeling; it was like my whole body was being split in half- my head included! But then I discovered I could open my eyes, and my death theory went out of the window. Dead people couldn't open their eyes after all._

_I was laid in a clean, white room. The lights on the ceiling above me were too bright, and made the room appear to sparkle. The light hurt my eyes. There was someone sat next to me, but I couldn't see them, I could only sense their presence. I had no idea where I was, I was only grateful for my sight._

_But with sight came anguish. The memories of yesterday came flooding back to me as if someone had just opened the flood gate of my mind. I felt sick with grief and loss. Pakasama was dead._

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_I sat beside the hospital bed. My mother was still unconscious, and I had left her in Ichigo's care for a while, just until I had spoken to my father. He was in a room just across the corridor from my mother, which he was not happy about; he had wanted to be with her, but the staff had refused. Until they were better at least._

_Guilt was coursing freely through my veins. Those criminals had only gone after my parents because they had wanted me, and I had let them do it, I hadn't been concerned enough to see past the stupid lie the thugs had fed me, and in the end it was Ichigo who had been the real hero._

**_Lavinya's POV: _**_he wasn't dead! Oh happy day, I could sing and dance around the hospital- that's where I am, I know that now. The person next to me had turned out to be Ichigo, and she had filled me in with yesterday's events after I had passed out. It seems we had both had the same idea to involve the Prime Official, and it had worked! Her guards had tracked the two rebels back to the tunnel we were being held captive in, and rescued us. Pakasama was alive, but had lost a lot of blood and broken a few bones, and I was physically unharmed, but they were keeping me in just in case._

_Also, the rebels had been arrested and were facing trial, which, Ichigo told me, she would be assisting Yeldray with. I had inquired as to why, and she had told me about her apprenticeship, which I must say I was happy about; it would be good for her to get some experience in the Cyniclon world if she wanted to fit in!_

**That evening, **Kisshu and Ichigo arrived back at the house alone. The hospital staff had decided to keep Lavinya in for an extra night just to be sure, and Pakasama would be in for a while until he recovered.

"I was thinking Ichigo," Kisshu began nervously, "that when my parents get out of hospital, and they're settled back down again that maybe… maybe we could- if you wanted to- get our own place?"

He grinned at her hopefully, fluttering his eyelashes comically. Ichigo laughed, then sobered up a little.

"Of course we should Kisshu! I was thinking myself that soon we would move out, I mean, we're married now, and your parents won't want us around forever. But I agree we should wait a little while."

Kisshu suddenly leapt at Ichigo, picking her up and whirling her around, and causing her to shriek and giggle! Then he teleported out of the dining room, were they had been having their tea, and when he landed, Ichigo saw that they were outside a huge house she hadn't seen before.

"Now, don't be mad, but I thought you would say yes, at least eventually, so I put a deposit on this house…"

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_I was speechless. The house was beautiful! The closest I could compare it to was an old Victorian mansion from Earth. I was still being carried by Kisshu, and I leant up and kissed him, hoping that would be enough for an answer, as I was still in too much shock to speak much. He smiled when we broke off, but when I tried to get down, he clung on._

_"No, it's tradition to carry you over the threshold of our new house when we're married right?"_

_I sighed. Truthfully, I was just self-conscious that I was too heavy, but Kisshu seemed to read my mind,  
"You weigh about as much as a feather Ichigo, stop worrying I'm going to drop you!"_

_I started to argue, but he placed a finger on my lips to silence me, and I gave in. Then he strode up to the door and knocked loudly three times. The door was opened by a Cyniclon, just like the one at Kisshu's parent's house. Kisshu thanked the butler and stepped past, although there were no maids lined up here. Once again, Kisshu read my mind,  
"There will be maids soon, I just didn't want to employ any until we started living here."_

_My husband finally put me down, and after a brief tour of the gorgeous house, we arrived at the bedroom. He made me walk in front, and put his hands over my eyes as we entered…_

_The room was the biggest yet, and by far the most modern. Where the rest of the house had been, not old-fashioned, but homely-looking and quite grand, this room was sleek and stylish. We were stood in the main room, but there were also two smaller ones joined onto it. Most of the floor was covered with a cream carpet, but I could see part way into another room, and the flooring in there seemed to be a pale kind of marble._

_In the centre of the room was a large, but quite low off the floor, bed, and the only other bits of furniture in here apart from that, were two minimalist, yet comfy-looking chairs and a low table. These were positioned in front of a bay window, which overlooked the woods, and also the clearing, where Kisshu and I had split our powers that night._

_I turned to back to Kisshu, and nodded, my eyes full of unshed tears, to show how happy I was. He wrapped his arms around my waist and steered me into the next room. This one was a kind-of bathroom, and a modern one at that! There was a huge, round hot tub in the corner that had little lights all the way around the edge and a discreet control panel on the wall. Next to that, but separated by a small wall, was the toilet and the sink, and on its other side, pushed back into a corner was a shower. The difference with this one, however, was that it didn't have the glass wall that most had. This was open to the room, and also had lights on the wall like the hot tub._

_I leant back over my shoulder to kiss the green-haired Cyniclon behind me, and we continued into the next room. This one was the dressing room, and had rows upon rows of clothes rails at the back. At the front on the left was a huge mirror that covered the whole wall, and on the right was a long table. Behind the table were three drawers running horizontally along the wall, and when Ichigo opened them, she found each one to be huge! The first was full of make-up, the second more make-up, and some hair products, and the third perfumes!_

_I eyed Kisshu quizzically, and he shrugged back,  
"Lavinya designed that bit," he explained, "We'll be expected to go to a lot of dinners with important people, so she thought you might want somewhere to get ready or something…"_

_I should have known really, I mean, Kisshu was taking over half, and someday all of, quite a big business; it was to be expected that we would have to go to events like that, but was I ready to become that person? I suppose I would have to eventually, if my apprenticeship went well, I would be Cynitopia's new Prime Official within as little as a year! I would have to accept publicity at some point…_

_"So, is it okay?" Kisshu broke my train of thought.  
"Okay?" I replied, shocked that he could even use so petty a word! "It's more than okay! It's the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me! I can't wait to move in here with you!" _

_His face brightened, but then turned quickly into a smirk. Before I knew what was happening, he had scooped me up and teleported back into the main bedroom, landing us both on the bed, and pinning me down. I squeaked in protest, but he didn't hear me, and smirked again as I tried to free myself._

_Then he leant down and kissed me passionately, and I stopped squirming, and began kissing him back just as passionately. I reached up and tugged off his shirt, (he had stopped wearing the brown half-top when he had inherited Pakasama's business,) exposing his perfect chest. He lifted me partly off the bed, and removed my top as well, and I could feel his smooth skin against my own as he continued to kiss me…_

**Okay, so that chapter was quite long, so sorry if I bored you a bit, but it all had to be said, and the last part will be continued I promise...  
So review please:D**


	25. Yeldray's Stroy

_Then he leant down and kissed me passionately, and I stopped squirming, and began kissing him back just as passionately. I reached up and tugged off his shirt, (he had stopped wearing the brown half-top when he had inherited Pakasama's business,) exposing his perfect chest. He lifted me partly off the bed, and removed my top as well, and I could feel his smooth skin against my own as he continued to kiss me…_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_This was our future: me, Ichigo, and this bed. I lay on top of her, kissing her and feeling her skin pressed up against my chest. I trailed kisses down her neck, and her back arched a little off the bed._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_Kisshu was kissing my neck, and each kiss was a slice of heaven. His lips moved back up to my lips, and we began kissing again, our mouths locked together; my tongue on his, and his tongue on mine. Then his hands started to caress my body. They moved slowly over my chest and down over my stomach, before slipping under my waistband…_

**An hour later **Ichigo and Kisshu left the house a little giddily, holding hands as they did so. They were returning to their current house to begin packing for when they moved out, which would be in roughly a week, as soon as Kisshu's parents came out of hospital.

"Kisshu," Ichigo was suddenly serious, "I think I know why I went to Yeldray's house the other day."

Kisshu looked down at her quizzically and she continued.

"A part of me just knew that I should go there, and I was thinking, what if it's my power? I mean, mind power right? Well Lavinya sent the rebels there knowing there would be a lot of security, and I teleported there without thinking. So I thought maybe…"

"You might be right," Kisshu cut her off, "but it doesn't matter? It's not like it's a bad power to have, and you're going to see Yeldray today for training anyway, so you can ask her. And thank her." He added as an after-thought. Ichigo nodded, satisfied with the answer, and the pair continued down the drive, before teleporting home.

**_Yeldray's POV: _**_In five minutes the truth was coming out. Five minutes and I was going to tell Ichigo why I had taken her on as an apprentice. The truth might scare her off- I didn't know, but I had to tell her. She had to know. Because at the minute, she just thought that I only had a year left in thi8s position, but the truth was far from it._

_She knocked on the door before entering, and for some reason, I was nervous._

_"Hi," I started. Ichigo, it seemed, was an exception to my rule. She was the only person I was almost myself with. I guess that's what comes from sharing secrets with people. But the real secret was coming out today.  
"So, we're not going to run through training and stuff today." I told her, she looked surprised as I has expected, but I carried on._

_"There's something I need to tell you. Something you can't tell anyone, not even Kisshu."  
Now she just looked worried. I took a deep breath and started my story._

_"When I was at school, I used to be bullied for my name. The bullies were the girls I called friends, and so I didn't think of them that way, at least not until much later. They soon went from picking on my name, to picking on other things, such as my intelligence, or my 'posh accent.'" I broke off, and saw that Ichigo looked sympathetic. This gave me the courage to continue:_

_"When we finished school, I went to work as an apprentice in a law building. It was dull work, but I knew I wanted to work in the business, so I didn't mind much. I got my qualification, and started work in the courts not long after. By then, I had forgotten about the bullies, until one turned up in my court, under trial for drug-dealing._

_"She expected me to bail her out. After all she had done to me! When I was interrogating her, she said to me:' why are you going through all this? You won't send me down right, we're friends!' well I told her exactly what I thought of her, and sent her down for three years. By the time she got out, I was higher up the scale, and working in the big courts, but I knew where I really wanted to be, and that was up with the officials. I had m sights set on this job, but that was where it all started going downhill._

_"The girl told her friends, my bullies, everything, and they all came after me one night when I was walking home. They were out of their heads with drink, and had several men with them, also drunk. I won't go into the details, but I got away, but afterwards I couldn't leave my house for a week, and kept phoning in sick at work… I kept receiving phone calls from them, telling me as soon as I stepped out of my house I was dead…_

_"You won't know about this time, but it was around then when Deep Blue began to get popular. The planet was still pretty inhabitable, and people were looking for a solution. I teleported to the dimension everyone was talking about, and spoke directly to him." I could feel my voice getting quieter as the lump in my throat grew, and I didn't have the guts to look Ichigo in the eye, but I carried on anyway._

_"I told him- I told him everything, about my job and my aspirations, and about the girls and their threats, and he listened. Then he gave me a deal. He said, he would take care of the girls, and he would do his bit in getting me my job, but I had to give him something back. He said, in eight years time, if he was in power, I had to hand over my job to him, because by then, he said, I would have completed my six years as Prime Official, and he wanted to be in charge of the planet._

_"I agreed, of course, I would have no more need of the job in six years, but then he told me the 'small' catch. He said, if he wasn't in power by then, and I couldn't give him the job, I would have to give him my life instead. He put as part of him in my body, and said that in eight years, if he wasn't still around, he would take over my body and come back. That seemed a small price back then, why wouldn't he be around in eight years? He was popular with everyone and it seemed certain he would take over earth and lead us fairly. Now I see that I was used."_

_There was a pause, but then Ichigo spoke up._

_"So what happened to the girls?" I should have guessed that part was coming. Now I looked her squarely in the eye and said:_

_"Deep Blue killed them. He took over their bodies and killed them. They made him stronger, and I had to live with that. I had to live with the knowledge that I had caused four girls to lose their lives, and it sickens me even now."_

_"But… now that Deep Blue isn't around, he will come back? Through you?" Ichigo asked me. I nodded sadly._

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_It was all for nothing! In a year's time, Deep Blue would come back and take over Cynitopia! He had it planned the whole time! But Yeldray was not finished…_

_"So that is why I must kill myself before the year is up. I will train you, Ichigo, and finish my time as Prime official, and then, before the time comes, I will end my life, and end the bit if Deep Blue that is within me."_

_I was stunned. I had a new-found respect for Yeldray; to be able to kill yourself rather than let evil take over. It took a lot. I sighed, but I was going to have to take over, and that was a big job. Well, we had a year until then, and I was going to make the year count…_

**I know I only just created Yeldray, but she was only just an excuse for Ichigo to become Prime Official. And the name's wierd I know... Anyway, review!**


	26. Three Years Later

**I'm putting my note at the top so I don't ruin the ending, someone reviewed and asked for a summary, and here it is so review please, please, please! And I'm very sorry to say it, but this is the end:'( I want to say thanks now for all the reviews and stuff, (I'm not saying there won't be a part 2, because there might...) but for now, the final chapter...**

**Ichigo** was sat behind her desk only half listening to the story she was being told. Two years ago, she had become Prime Official of Cynitopia after the death of her predecessor Yeldray Teragram, but now all she really wanted was her husband Kisshu. He had been away on a business trip for the past few days, and she was really starting to miss him. Her manicured nails tapped the desk impatiently as the convict before her sat spouting obvious lies.

_I had to see Kisshu. I had to see him. I had to tell him. I had to tell him about it…_

**Kisshu **was sat in the back seat of his chauffeured car, thinking about his wife who was currently at work at her office. His business trip had gone pretty well; the travel branch had launched a new planet line, and this new development would lead to millions.

"How far away are we please?" I asked my chauffeur.  
"About an hour sir." He replied.

I nodded and settled back into my seat, thinking about Ichigo.

**Pai and Zimbyla **sat at home on their day off. Peryzai was due to arrive home from school at any time, but they still had a few extra minutes of peace. Pai's inventing business had really in the last nine years, and they were now living in one of the grandest houses in Cynitopia. Their daughter was now nine years old, and was very intelligent for her age; she was top of the class in every subject. Pai was the happiest he had ever been, and nothing would ever bring him down again…

**Lavinya and Pakasama **sat in their drawing room and talked about downsizing their house. It was too big for the two of them, and there was no point rattling around its empty rooms for the rest of their lives. Life. Ever since the kidnapping three years ago, they had both appreciated it so much more, and now they were a happily retired couple looking forward to a few relaxing years…

**Taruto and Pudding **waved goodbye to Hanacha, the oldest of Pudding's little brothers. He was the first of them to leave home, having found him a girlfriend and a job. Taruto patted him gruffly on the back, while Pudding sniffled back a tear. The cute couple did not know whether they would ever move permanently to Cynitopia; with Pai's travel system, it was fairly easy to visit, and Pudding did not want to move away in case her brothers and sisters ever needed her.

Taruto did not currently have a job; it would have been hard to get one with his strange appearance. However, he didn't need to get one; Pudding had recently become the new face of a big Tokyo entertainment company, and was earning enough money to keep them very comfortable.

**The mews **had not transformed since Ichigo had left them. Keiichiro and Ryou had died in the destruction of Tokyo nine years ago, and they had vowed never to become the mews again. While Mint still held a grudge against Ichigo for leaving them, even after nearly a decade had passed, Zakuro and Lettuce had forgiven her, and received updates on hers and Kisshu's live through Pudding. They had even been through once to visit the happy couple, although they did not make the journey often, as the old awkwardness still hung in the air.

Mint, who had recently married a rich business man, was looking into opening a ballet camp for the rich and well-brought-up of Tokyo. She kept in touch with Zakuro, who was just as famous as she had been nine years ago, but was now he founder of several charities, and held regular fund-raisers for them. Lettuce was earning big money as a leading scientist into the protection of endangered species, and it was rumoured amongst the friends that she was soon to be engaged to one of her colleagues.

**Kisshu's **car finally pulled up onto his drive. The chauffeur got out and held the door open for him, and Kisshu thanked him and strode up to the front door of his house, which was promptly opened by the butler.

He found Ichigo waiting for him in the drawing room, and she looked worried about something, and yet happy at the same time. He went and sat on the chair opposite her, and waited for her to begin.

**_Ichigo's POV: _**_It was now or never…  
"Kisshu, there's something I need to tell you…" I paused, how to say it?_

_"I'm pregnant! We're having a baby!"_

**_Kisshu's POV: _**_Joy erupted from within me! I leapt from my chair and went to stand next to Ichigo, who had also stood up. Then I embraced her, holding her close to me and treasuring the moment. Then I pulled away slightly and whispered in her ear,  
"I love you so, so much Ichigo! You've made me the happiest man alive!"_

_"I love you too Kisshu!" her voice cracked as she said my name, and she began to cry. I wiped away her tears gently, and she smiled through the emotion. I was on top of the world, I was in utopia, I was in Ichigo's arms…_

_Then, I cupped her face gently and lovingly, leant down slowly, and softly kissed her full, pink lips…_


End file.
